Chapter 18: Chapter Eighteen: Seperate Tides Part 1

There is a dimension beyond that which is known to mankind. It is a dimension filled with magic and terrors beyond which we can see and experience. Where what we humans call witchcraft is not only a practice but a way of life, practiced by the horrifying in appearance, but gentle in soul inhabitants. This is the world known as the Demon Realm, and as the sun rose on another sunny day in the Boiling Isles, it marked a new day for the Seventh Son of the Seventh Son, Booker Bridges.

Dressed in his winter clothes, Booker sat alone on a snow-covered rock. His legs crossed with his hands pressed together, meditating as he focused on controlling his breathing. His efforts to calm his mind were in progress, though not without a lot of effort on his part to keep it clear. His thoughts were a whirlwind and anchored down by the events that had taken place in his life.

And then, it happened! From out of nowhere, a blast of fire was sent his way. 

Booker's eyes widened as he quickly sensed the magic attack coming his way. Biting back the fear, the Seventh Son held out his hand and caught the fireball. Using what he's learned, Booker absorbed the magic into his body. 

Then, another attack was sent his way. This time, an Oracle Spirit flew at him and lashed out with its claws, forcing Booker to jump away with a backflip. 

He landed in the snow with a skid, before quickly moving out of the way of three fireballs being thrown at him. Clapping his hands and digging them into the snow, Booker converted the magic he absorbed into magical energy and formed a shield of ice from the ground that blocked another barrage. 

Booker was about to go on the attack himself when he caught a glimpse of something behind him. 

Then, at the very last second, he jumped out of the way of a bolt of lightning that smashed into the ice barrier and shattered it into pieces. "Whoa! Whoa! Time out," Booker yelled at the attacker, who almost zapped him into a burnt carcass.

Descending from the sky on her pony Palisman, Claus asked, "What? Too much?"

"Yeah! What the hell?!" Booker yelled, shocked and incensed. Behind him, Roswell floated down from the sky on his bear Palisman. 

"Wait, was that a rule," he asked with his arms crossed. "Because I remember telling you we'd randomly attack you and see how well you could react."

"And you have some mad reaction time, cuz!" Claus said cheerfully. 

"I wouldn't really say that," Roswell said, however, drawing the annoyance of Booker to him. "Your reaction time was good, but you spent too much time absorbing one magic attack, leaving you open to more attacks." As he continued critiquing Booker's performance, Roswell failed to notice an Oracle Spirit appearing behind him. 

"Boo!" 

"AAAH!" Roswell screamed like a girl as he fell off his staff, landing in the snow face first with his butt in the air. 

"Ha!" Laughed Felix as he and Jason walked up the snowy mountain. "That's what I call knocking you off your high horse–er, bear. Your high bear!" The cousins laughed with each other as Roswell pulled himself out of the snow, looking none too happy. 

Booker watched them as a smile appeared on his face, happy to have a family as great as his still. One and a half weeks have passed since the petrification ceremony, destroying the portal back to the Earth. It was a hard decision to make, but between having the portal and having his new mom, he'd pick Eda every time. 

But that didn't mean that Booker was going just to let Belos use the door, so he destroyed it. Now, he and Luz were stuck on the Boiling Isles. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out the portal's key. He felt magic inside of it, but it wasn't known if it would have the power to make a new door. 

Whatever happens, he'll be ready. 

{Play music: Into the Badlands theme}

The intro opens with Booker rising from a dark void and clapping his hands. His magic markings light up, and the eye of the portal opens behind him, with a fire burning inside. One by one, his friends appear in front of him. First is Luz, who plays with her cards and does her light spells. Next, Eda steps out of a portal and spins her staff, only for King to come out from behind her. This is followed by Willow summoning massive vines as her eyes glow, Gus holding an open book and conjuring illusion clones of himself, and ends with Amity twirling into the frame and smirking as she brings down a wall of abomination goo.

A Boiling Isle mural is seen again, only this time, the nine symbols of the Covens are added on top, the Owl House is on the bottom left, and the Emperor's Castle is on the bottom right. Lilith, Hunter, and Kikimora appear in the frames, taking the place of Willow, Gus, and Amity. They then show the reverse side of their frames with Lilith sobbing, Hunter taking off his mask, revealing his face partially, and Kikimora enraged. 

The scene is burnt away again, only this time it was by Emperor Belos. Behind him was his castle as lightning strikes.

Now, as the sun set, Booker and Luz were on Eda's staff, with Luz riding up front like she was driving and Booker standing behind like he was surfing on a surfboard. They zoom down the Boiling Isles, past many friends and foes alike, until Eda and King join in on the ride... then they hang on for dear life as a massive, monstrous worm-like monster, mouth wide open, lunges at them. Everyone, minus Booker, screamed in horror, as the latter looked brave and defiant towards the beast as he pointed his sword towards it.

Then, the scene changes back to the Owl House, where it's nighttime and stars twinkle in the sky. Only this time, the night sky is colored in a more vibrant purple, and the family of four can now see the Milky Way on the roof. Luz opens her hands to reveal a ball of light as Booker's hands glow, and a glyph-like symbol appears on the back of his hands.

He grinned and slammed his hands together, causing light magic to burst from his hands. That's when the title appeared.

The Seventh Son

Chapter Eighteen: 

Separate Tides

After his first week of training with his cousins came to an end, Booker was flown back to the Owl House on Claus' staff. If he was correct, Luz should be back from her bounty-hunting mission. 

"And we're home," Claus said, parking over the roof of the house near the window to his and Luz's room. Booker jumped off and turned to his cousin as she smiled at him. "Keep practicing!" The rabbit witch took off into the air to make her return home.

Taking off the coat, Booker walked to the stained glass window and opened it. Inside, he saw the first of two girls he fell in love with, holding up a glass bottle. 

Booker smiled at Luz and announced his presence. "I'm home."

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH!" The little demon of the house, known as King, aka the King of Demons, suddenly threw himself at Booker from out of nowhere, clinging to his face and knocking him over. Luz was shocked by this until she started giggling when she saw her best friend and the boy she loved so much struggling to get King off his face.

Eventually, he yanked him off and held King by his scruff as he struggled to catch his breath. "Good morning, King," he said, annoyed by King almost suffocating him.

"Where have you been?!" King wailed. 

"I said I was going to be gone for a few hours."

"That's still too long!"

Luz laughed and walked over to the two of them. "Oh, don't mind him, Booky," she said, using a nickname that always made him blush. And it didn't fail her this time. "King's just happy to see you again after a whole week." Luz offered her hand to her best friend. 

Booker dropped King and grabbed her hand. After standing up, he asked, "So, how'd the mission go?" Happy that she was talking to him again.

Luz's smile turned upside down as she held up the bottle. Inside it, Booker saw a small rabbit-like beast demon with one eye. "Ask him yourself," she said, pulling out the wanted poster for him. 

Turns out his name was Garlog.

Booker leaned down to see the creature in the bottle. He then compared him to the drawing on the poster. The Garlog on the poster, who was worth 4,000 sails, was a hulking beast who was bigger , scarier, and more intimidating than the original demon . The thing in the bottle, on the other hand, looked like something that would be put in a stew.

Garlog said in a dark and sinister voice, "Small I may be, but you will soon know fear when I lay waste to all that you—AHH!"

Luz suddenly jerked the bottle up and down. "Hey, what did I tell you about threatening me and my friends?" She turned to Booker and asked, "So, you're all done with training?"

"Actually, it wasn't all that bad," Booker said with a smile. "So, where are the others?"

"They're still here, but Eda said that as soon as you come back, we'll be heading into town," Luz said as her smile grew back on her lips. "We've got a week's worth of bounties to turn in."

"Well, in that case…" Booker held his left arm up and summoned his family's sword. The anti-magic sword Dragon's Bite, sitting against the wall of his side of the room, flew over and into his hand. "Let's get going!" 

Booker tried to take a step to the door, but felt something weighing him down. The Seventh Son lifted his leg to show King was clutching it tightly. "I'm never letting you go! You're not going back to your family!" King said before Luz pulled him off and held him like a baby in her arms.

"Aw, you don't mean that," Luz cooed, rocking him in her arms to calm him down as both kids walked towards the door.

"Yes, I do!"

The two kids walked into the Owl House's kitchen. There, they found Eda, who was trying to cast a magical spell to lift a large jug of apple blood and pour herself a cup. 

It was pretty hard to watch and not feel pity. At one point, when Booker and Luz came to this world. Eda, famously known as the Owl Lady, was hailed as the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles. Or at least she was until her curse overpowered her and weakened her magic. It's been hard for her to adjust without her magic, but she's been getting by.

At least, she was, until she made the jug explode, getting the apple blood all over her and the kitchen. Eda groaned in frustration before she heard a pair of hands clapping and saw a ball of water floating in front of her. 

"Need any help, Mama Eda," Booker asked as he walked over to her. 

"Ah, there's my new son!" Eda said with such pride as she patted his head and washed her face in the magic water. Sure, it was weird to the Owl Lady that she had someone to call her son, but there's nothing in this world that could make her trade Booker for. "Do me a favor and go get that sister of mine. It's time we got our money's worth."

"No problem," Booker said as he turned and walked up the stairs to Lilith's room.

Seeing the door open, he looked inside to see the woman who was once his sworn. enemy. No longer the powerful head of the Emperor's Coven, and without her magic as well, Lilith put her old dress away in a briefcase. To symbolize her new state of powerlessness, the older woman wore a graphic tee Eda got from the Human Realm of a "low battery" symbol and a ragged gray skirt that reached to her ankles, which she got from Eda.

Then she closed the briefcase and looked out the opened stained glass window pensively. If Eda's fall from grace was anything, Lilith's was something else. All her life, she'd climbed to the top because it was her selfishness that had cursed her own sister, spending her entire life looking for a way to undo it. When she finally did, it was at the cost of everything she had achieved.

Yet, of all the things she was ashamed of and the terrible things she had done in the name of the mad king, Lilith didn't regret losing it all. It's still hard for everyone to trust her, but maybe with time, they could all become friends, especially now that she has a nephew.

Speaking of nephews, Booker knocked on the door and said, "You, Aunt Lily, we're heading out. Come on." 

Lilith jumped a bit but relaxed when seeing that it was the boy. "Oh, thank you, nephew," she said. "I didn't know you'd return."

"Just got back," Booker said.

That's when Hooty suddenly appeared in the window. "Hello!"

Lilith screamed in surprise and slammed the window in Hooty's face. Booker chuckled and walked away. It might have been strange for some to hear Booker calling someone who'd been his enemy 'Aunt Lily,' but the Seventh Son had grown past that. He couldn't forgive Lilith for certain actions she took against his family, but he understood that she was in a very difficult position. She'd followed something that promised her the moon, only to realize that Belos played her as a fool. 

Thankfully, Lilith chose to do the right thing, and it saved Eda. That's all that matters to Booker. 

A minute later, Booker and Liz walked out of the house together. There, they saw a wagon cart that was full of other bounties they caught with two rat slugs on reigns. Without the portal, Eda had no human garbage to sell at the market. To put fun on the table, the odd family resorted to working odd jobs to keep food on the table. Booker wanted to help, but Eda made it clear that Booker needed his training to master his powers. 

This week, they were bounty hunters. Next week, they could be anything.

As they walked to the wagon, Booker's attention was drawn to Eda, who could be seen constructing something. Even though Eda had been frustrated, she found new ways to make up for her lost powers. And building new inventions was one of those ways. Although, most of her new ideas are…not so great.

"Check it, Booker!" Eda presented to the Seventh Son a makeshift spear made from a broken piece of an old harpoon and a net. "It was a new hunting weapon. I will call her the Stab-Catcher."

Booker took a step back with his hands up. "Mama Eda, I love you, but I don't trust you with that thing."

"Yeah," said Luz nervously, "what if you hurt someone?"

"Oh please, I have the aim of an archer," Eda boasted while looking to see what she could test out her new weapon on. That's when she did find herself a target and held her 'Stab Catcher' like she was going to throw it. "Hey, King, did you know that that apple is a hat?"

Booker and Luz turned around and panicked when they saw where King was standing. "Really?" King gushed and put the apple in front of him on his head, not knowing he was standing in front of a target.

"King!" Luz screamed as Booker clapped his hands. He summoned a vine that grabbed the little demon and pulled him away, getting King out of harm's way. The Stab-Catcher, with Eda's detached hands still holding on, hit the bullseye.

Booker and Luz glared at Eda, who looked away, whistling to herself while finding the cloud to be very interesting to look at.

Lilith came out of the house, stopped, and looked to her right. Her eyes widened upon seeing the harpoon and her sister's arms. "I don't even want to know what happened," she said, grabbing the severed arms and throwing them back to Eda.

With a smirk, the youngest sister held out her stumps, and the arms landed perfectly back on. Earning her a round of applause from the kids. "Alright, time to bring these bad boys to market!" Eda said as she jerked her thumb to the cart.

Booker jumped onto the back and helped Luz and King up. 

Lilith sat in the front with her sister, only to get feathers on herself when she sat down. She patted feathers off herself and grunted. "Eda, do you own anything that isn't covered in feathers?"

"I had to deal with a curse for 30 years," Eda said, "so I think you can handle a few feathers."

In the heart of Bonesborough's marketplace, the citizens of the Boiling Isles were going about their daily routine. However, upon waking up today, they were surprised by a new, towering statue of Emperor Belos placed in the center of the bazaar. It stood over two stories tall, with his hand held up in a gesture that told the people to stop being happy and to remain faithful. 

Or, in the heroes' eyes, it was a gesture to stop their thoughts of defiance and remain fearful of his power.

Not only was the statue a new presence in the market district, but so too was the increasing number of Emperor's Coven guards everywhere.

"Wow, the Emperor is really taking over," Luz said as she, Booker, and King followed Eda across the market's streets. 

The Dominican girl wore her new cloak, which Eda had made, and her hood to hide her ears. After his magic destroyed his lizard hoodie, Booker only had the white shirt he wore under it to cover his chest. His golden hair was covered with the beanie he wore when he was in school. King, well, he was still naked and had a dog tag.

"I see it too, Luz. And I'm trying to stay civil," said her master. However, Eda's version of 'staying civil' was walking up to a demon decked out in Emperor's Coven apparel and kicking him in the balls.

Booker looked at the statue with a glance of disgust and anger for the Emperor that was boiling in his heart. The evil man who wanted his blood for something that even he couldn't understand. 

But as he looked at the guards patrolling the district, the Seventh Son felt a sense of guilt. They were here because of him. He defied the Emperor, beat him in combat, and lived to tell the tale. Booker read enough trashy teenage revolution books to know this was the part of the story where the oppressive government was going to try to stomp out any semblance of the people rebelling against the regime. And what's worse, he knew it was just his fault. 

"Hey, kiddo!"

"Huh?" Booker looked at his adopted mom and saw her and Luz standing in front of one of the booths reading BOUNTY. 

"Come on! Let's get some money!" Eda grinned as she placed the bag of captured demons on a scale. 

Booker quickly walked over and waited with Eda and Luz while a shopkeeper behind the counter read the scale.

"Tsk. Your payment," said the shopkeeper in a dry voice, holding out a measly snail. 

Eda looked at the token in shock and annoyance. "A single snail?" She asked. "Are you kidding me?"

The shopkeeper looked at the token and laughed, as if he had made a minor mistake. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't done yet," he said. 

The demon snapped the snail in half, then presented the half snail to the Owl Lady.

"You can't do this to me!" Eda went into full Karen mode, attracting a few onlookers. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, you're Eda the Owl Lady. What are you gonna do?" The guy taunted. "We all know you're powerless now."

Eda growled in anger before Booker, just as angry that the man had the nerve to insult his new mother. "She may not be powerful anymore, but I still am," Booker said, resting his left arm on the booth's counter. "So cough up the money we're owed."

The shopkeeper was about to tell him off, too. That was until he saw the dragon tooth handle of the sword on his back. And then he realized the newly permanent markings on his arms weren't painted. Their likeness was that of tattoos or even burns.

"I know who you are," he said in shock. "You're the kid who took on Belos, the Seventh Son, Booker Bridges."

This surprised everyone in the crowd, drawing a lot more attention to the odd family. 

Booker, not noticing, smirked and said, "Yeah, that's me."

The shopkeeper, however, looked at Booker quizzically, sizing him up before asking Luz, "This isn't a joke, right? This is really the Seventh Son everyone's talking about?"

"Uh…" Luz nervously smiled and nodded. "I'm pretty sure…please don't call the police."

"But he's a runt." 

This infuriated Booker, and he yelled, "OH, YEAH?! CAN A RUNT DO THIS?!" 

Booker clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground. Catching the shopkeeper in an earth-made trap that wrecked parts of his booth.

The trap didn't crush him but kept him in place. "I've heard the rumors, but still, I never imagined this," the shopkeeper said as his face was squished. The powerful Seventh Son is just a little kid." 

Booker, getting mad again, clapped his hands and made a light-made hand while shouting, "DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" The hand smacked the shopkeeper out cold, destroying the front of the booth. 

As Booker panted out his anger, Luz smiled a funny, weary, cat-like smile with her eyes closed. Some things changed, and some things stayed the same. "Uh, Booker, you do know he wasn't talking about your height, right?" 

Booker realized his mistake but said, "Well, even if he wasn't, he still pissed me off!"

"The Seventh Son is here!?" Luz heard someone yell and turned around. In the back of the crowd, she saw a group of five Emperor's Coven soldiers shoving their way through to reach her and her friends. "There they are! Stop them!"

"Crap, time to go!" Luz exclaimed, picking up King and grabbing Booker's hand. Followed by Eda, she and the others ran away from the scene of the crime.

Eda, however, rushed back. "MONEY!" She shouted wildly, grabbed two sacks of money from the booth, and ran away with her kids.

Luckily, it only took them 30 seconds to make their escape and lose the guards. They stopped at a tall wall that had the wanted posters of the Seventh Son and Owl Lady, along with Lilith's recruiting posters. Panting for a few seconds with King on her shoulder, Luz said, "You two really are the same, you know that?"

"Come on, I know you like my bad boy traits," Booker said with a smirk, making Luz blush.

"Bad boy terms isn't the word I'd use," she joked back at him. "But, I do love your 'quirks'."

Booker stood up straight and said, "The guy deserved it, anyway. You and Eda both worked really hard to get those bounties. With Eda no longer powerful and the portal…"

Booker's heart stung with guilt and shame when he saw Luz look away from him. Her face turned into an angry expression, and she crossed her arms. This had become a reoccurring reaction whenever the golden-haired boy brought up the portal. Sadly, the response to the portal's destruction has been less than positive. Not that Booker blamed her. It was her only way back home. To her mom. To her life on earth. Luz wouldn't even talk to him for a day, and when she did, she would just shut down and return to the bitter state she was in whenever the topic was brought up.

"…anyway," Booker continued, "We can't rely on Eda to help us out of a pinch anymore."

"If anything, she's the one that needs help," King said, pointing to the old woman. 

"You bite your tongue! Ah, I don't need your pity," Eda said. With her proud smile, the infamous Owl Lady pulled out and held up her own wanted poster. "I was the most wanted criminal for years before you came along, adopted son of mine. I can still command fear and respect!"

That respect and fear were taken away when a passing garbage man grabbed her wanted poster and put it in the trash cart he was pushing. "No magic? Not so wanted anymore," he said as he passed.

With a twitching eye, Eda growled in disbelief and frustration. Which only grew when her sister walked over with a laugh. "Don't worry, sister. At least my image still commands respect and fear," Lilith said, posing in front of her Coven recruitment poster, in which she was making the same pose. 

Like her sister, however, that respect and fear were taken away when the poster was promptly torched by the same garbage man holding a flamethrower.

King pointed and laughed, "HAHA! You're a traitor."

Furious at the desiccation of her poster, Lilith marched up to the garbage man and demanded, "What's going on? This is anarchy! Who told you to do this?" That answer came in the form of three new Coven recruitment posters magically flying onto the wall. Lilith looked at the posters in shock before feeling nothing but anger and annoyance. "Oh, fuck me…"

Ripping one off, Booker looked at the poster and saw a person known as the Golden Guard. Recognizing him as the same guard who tried to stop him after Booker destroyed the petrification machine. "The Golden Guard?" he asked.

Luz saw the guard and gasped in shock and anger. "That's the pendeja that knocked me out!" Luz yelled, pointing to the poster.

"You hate him too? Good!" Lilith threw her arms up. "I finally have someone to hate him with…that isn't Kikimora."

Further confused, Booker asked, "Did you know him in the Coven, Aunt Lily?

"Unfortunately, I did." Lilith aggressively snacked the poster from Booker. "He always got special treatment because he was the 'genius teen prodigy,' but he's really just a brat," she angrily told her adoptive nephew, crumpling up the poster with all the anger and frustration that boy had caused the older woman. "If he's in charge...fuck the Coven!"

The former coven head threw the crumbled poster at a trash can, only for it to stop and hover right before entering. However, the poster unraveled and flew back, adhering to Lilith's face, making her scream out in frustration and try to rip it off.

"I've gotcha," Booker said, clapping his hands. Conjuring a little fire, he burned the poster away from her face, though it did leave black dust on her face. 

"Thank you, nephew." Lilith sighed in misery.

"You can just keep calling me Booker," he said with a smile.

"Right. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to wallow in my misery," Lilith said, sulking away.

It's been one week since Booker left to train with his family at the Knee, and coming home allowed him to see the state of not just his new aunt but also the rest of his family and friends. They were barely able to get by, forced to do minimal work that offered a little reward in return. Luz was able to keep her optimism alive, but Eda and Lilith were so down in the dumps by their situation. 

"Alright, that does it!" He said loudly, getting the attention of the others as he gave them a look of determination. "Mama Eda, I'm not going to sit back and watch as you and Luz struggle. I'm joining you on the next bounty."

Luz gasped when her eyes sparkled. "Woo! Yeah! The Weirdo Family is back, baby!"

"Now that I'm here, we can really go after the bigger bounties. Something to last us a year or half of one. Something that will give us the confidence boost we need. Why don't we take on the biggest bounty we can find?" Walking up to the bounty board, named Greg's list with several posters on display, Booker looked around for a decent bounty to catch but found other things aside from bounties. "Hmm. Lost Cerberus, no," he said, moving on to the next bounty.

Wanting to help him with finding a bounty, Luz stood beside her best friend and looked at one. "Witch cackling contest? How's your cackling, Booky?"

Booker proceeded to cackle like the Monarch from the Venture Bros.

"Nice, but maybe not today."

"Wait! Aha!" Booker grinned when he saw what had to be the biggest bounty reward ever. 

Pulling the poster from the wall, Booker looked at a drawing of a large, strange beast. From the simplified version printed on the poster, the creature appeared to be a mixture of a walrus, hippo, and whale. However, Booker was only interested in the 1,000,000 snail bounty—the largest and most genius bounty on the board.

"A 'Selkidomus' ravaging boats up and down the coast," Booker read from the poster before looking to Luz.

"Yes! Finally, a real monster hunt!" Luz shouted in excitement. No more small creatures that were over-advertised. No more small rewards for small prey. This time, they were going to, pun intended, catch a big fish.

Grinned, Booker looked to Eda and King. "Alright, who's ready for a high-seas adventure," he said, grinning. 

Booker started walking away from them to get to the docks. However, an arm grabbed him from behind and pulled him back. "Hmm... no," said Eda, the arm's owner.

"What?!"

"We gotta keep a low profile while my powers are weakened."

"But I'll be with you guys!"

"And that's another reason. Haven't you forgotten you're the most wanted person right now? What we need is fast cash, Eda said, looking at all the other bounty posters on the board. Trying to find one that would not draw the most amount of attention. That's when she saw one that worked for her. "How about this guy?"

Looking at the poster Eda was gesturing to, Booker and Luz saw it was of a demon who looked like a young child with pink skin, tiny horns, and bat wings. To drive home the idea of the demon being only a child, it was seen holding a lollipop with a pink and white swirl. Booker looked at it and thought it was trying to pass off as a stereotypical kid he'd see in old cartoons.

"'The Abominable Cutie Pie'?" Luz said as she looked at her mentor in confusion.

"No, no, no. I hear it's very dangerous," Eda said, trying to sell the quest to the kids. 

Booker grabbed the poster and looked it over. "'Not responsible for any mass murders, nor responsible for any atrocities. Just extremely annoying. Please get rid of him.' And also for the low, low price of 600 snails," he said, giving his new mother a sassy look. Something he'd learn quite well from her. 

Looking a bit nervous, Eda gasped and pointed to the street. "Look, there he is!"

Turning to where she was pointing, the duo saw their wanted "criminal". Standing between two Hexside students, one being Selene, with a lollipop in hand, was the demon they were looking for. At a height of about 2 feet tall, he looked like a pig man and wore a ripped pink shirt with magenta shorts and a matching hat. 

Seeing that he'd been spotted, the Abominable Cutie Pie giggled as he ran off and climbed the statue of Emperor Belos. "You'll never catch me!" he said in a cute voice.

It was just pathetic. Far from the best bounty worthy of Booker's power, and he knew it. However, money was still money, and he promised to help his family in any way he could. And so, the Seventh Son walked to the statue and clapped his hands. Forming an arm of hard light, he stretched out the arm up and grabbed the small demon.

"You did it. You caught me," the Abominable Cutie Pie said in a deadpan tone, almost as if he was expecting this.

"This is even more pathetic than the last one," said Luz as she and King approached Booker. 

The Seventh Son sighed and pulled the demon back down to him. He was about to get him to the bounty booth he'd destroy to cash the demon in. However, he stopped when he heard a conversation between his new mom and aunt.

"Something on your mind," asked a concerned Lilith as she sat in the wagon, at the reins again. "You're usually in a good mood when you rob people, " she said.

Eda, looking worried, sighed as she loaded the sack of snails into the cart. "Things aren't looking great, Lily. This bounty hunting stuff isn't putting food on the table. Face it, I've become a single mother with no job, no magic, with two children to feed and King."

"Those children aren't exactly the most valuable people. Believe me, I know," Lilith said to Eda, cringing at the many times she had been defeated and failed to capture her new nephew. "Let them take the bigger bounties. They can handle it."

"Oh, I'm sure my son and Luz could handle bigger bounties, but if we wanna eat, we don't have the luxury to mess up even once," Eda told her. "And with Booker, I don't want him to attract the attention of the Emperor. You saw what happened a few minutes ago."

"It's not easy being a mother, huh?" Lilith joked a bit, getting a snort from Eda

"No kidding," she said. "Elizabeth made it look so easy with Booker's brothers. Then again, she had Malcolm."

This made Lilith look away from her sister with a look of great sadness and shame. Even her sister had the opportunity to see Mal's children. "I…I wish I could have met them."

Knowing what was going through her mind, Eda placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We both wish for many things," she said melancholically.

"Sounds like someone needs apple blood," Lilith said, needing a drink of her favorite beverage.

"No apple blood. I spent the money on griffin eggs for the kids. There's not a lot Luz can digest here, so I make sure to have her favorites around. Booker's stomach is easier to work with, but he's a picky eater. Wouldn't even eat mud-puppies."

"What?!"

"I know! Who doesn't want to eat a puppy?!" Eda joked a bit as the sisters headed back to the owl house, leaving the kids in the market.

Back at the statue, Booker looked at Luz, who felt just as down as he did. The two best friends, along with King, sat down on the stone base of the Belos statue.

The Abominable Cutie Pie then said in a manly voice, "That's rough, buddy." In response, King took his lollipop and shoved him to the ground.

Booker didn't mind, even as his hard light arm dispelled. He was too depressed to do anything about the cutie pie, who ran off. 

"Hey, you okay?" Luz asked, scooting closer to the hybrid.

"I'm just… wondering if maybe it would be better if I never came here," Booker said with great sadness as he looked at the ground.

"What? Booker, don't say that," Luz said, instantly wanting to get her BFF out of the rut he was in and back to his normal self. "If it weren't for you, people's lives wouldn't have been as good as they are now. Think of all the people who you've helped. You have a family here, both in blood and heart."

"Yeah, but look at the stuff I brought upon you and everyone else," Booker said, gesturing to the statue. "I've made a lot of mistakes here, and my actions had consequences that others have to deal with. I may have messed things up for me, but I didn't want Eda to suffer for my mistakes. She wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me."

"And she wouldn't have been cured if it wasn't for you." Luz pointed out. She then jumped down from the base and said, "We can't change the past, but we can still change the future. We're gonna help Eda and prove we're more than just a burden."

Booker looked at her with a raised eyebrow. However, his mouth then formed a small smile. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Always." Luz nodded.

When the three friends found their way to the Bonesborough Dock, Booker walked up to the captain of the only ship docked at the port and slammed the poster on the barrel with a determined glare in his eyes.

"The Selkidomus hunt. We want in," he said to the captain as his freighter-shaped ship's horn blew and smoke blasted out of the five smokestacks.

The captain himself was a medium-sized, muscular demon with the overall appearance of a light, brownish-red lobster, with his left arm a red-and-gray lobster claw. He had two whiskers-like antennas hanging off from his chin and a two-tone maroon beak, in addition to red horns on his head with darker gray tips, which made it look like he was wearing a pirate hat. He donned a scar over his right eye and had a golden tooth sticking out from his lower lip.

His attire was also fitting of a pirate: a jagged, grayish-white top with a dark cyan cloth around his neck, pinned together by a gray lobster-like trinket with dark gray and yellow claws. Over his top was a navy blue coat with white rings around the sleeves and bluish-gray trim near the neck. He also wore medium-blue pants and black boots.

"You think you can handle this, squi—" The captain was cut off when he saw Luz and King desperately motioning for him to go no further with his sentence, knowing that he was going to say a word that would have brought attention to Booker's height. "Squidlings. I…I was going to say squidling."

"You have no idea what I can do," he said with a confident smile and crossed his arms.

The captain looked over Booker for a moment, seeing the fire in his eyes and the strength of his will. But more importantly, he saw the marks on his arm. Knowing what he was, the captain knew this boy was just what he needed.

"Welcome aboard," he said, tossing the two kids their uniforms. 

As the two kids and King were let onboard the ship, neither of them knew what they were getting into. Watching them go, the captain looked up at the side of the boat at an open window. In the shadows of the quarters, he saw a mysterious individual and nodded to them.

The Golden Guard nodded back and closed the window of his quarters, bearing the Emperor's sigil. 

As the ship prepared to leave port, Luz and King waited for Booker to step out of the changing room of the ship. The Dominican girl was already in her pirate uniform, consisting of a blue scarf that had a cute white fish on the front wrapped around her head, a purple ascot with a spider head pin, a dark beige shirt with gray lines on the sleeves with a torn rim, and blue pants with torn ends while wearing black flats on her feet.

Luz couldn't help but think about replaying Pokémon Sapphire and capturing Kyogre. She didn't know why. But as they waited, King got impatient and banged on the metal door. "Booker, hurry up! Are you even dressed?!"

"I am," Booker said in the changing room. "I just…don't really think I made the right choice of outfit."

"Oh, I'm sure it's fine, Booker," Luz reassured him. "Just come out, and let us see." 

A moment later, the door was unlocked and pushed open. The Seventh Son steps out. Luz's eyes went wide as she looked at her crush in the attire of a swashbuckler. Looking like a modern-day Errol Flynn, Booker had on a white buttoned-up shirt with puffy sleeves. It was halfway buttoned up and tucked into a pair of brown pants. On his feet were a pair of black boots, while around his waist was a thick leather belt with a gold buckle, and Dragon's Bite strapped on his back. To cover his golden hair, he trained his beanie for a blue scarf, just like the one Luz had. Complete with a cute fish on it.

"So... is this good?" Booker asked his crush and friend, still unsure of it. To make sure he wasn't recognized again, he rolled down his sleeves and covered them with a pair of leather gloves he'd found in the changing room.

Luz looked at him in amazement and said with a big smile, "Yes, yes, you did make the right choice." She clearly liked what she saw.

The horn of the ship blasted through the air of the docks. The anchor was pulled out of the water, and the boat pulled itself out of the harbor. Turning around, it soon became sailing at high speeds. Seeing the Boiling Isles being left behind, Booker, Luz, and King ran out from the deck below and stood at the bow of the ship. The young boy took in a deep breath of the sea air blowing past him. It was hotter than expected. It must've been why it was called the Boiling Sea. 

"This is it, you two," Booker said as King climbed onto the boy's shoulder and acted like his parrot. "Our first adventure away from the Isles."

"When we defeat the Selkidomus and get a boatload of snails, Eda won't have to worry about money for a long time," Luz said, equally excited.

King said, like a parrot, "King wanna cracker!"

"All hands!" The captain, Salty, called out to his crew. 

Booker and Luz joined the rest of the crew. Lining up in front of Salty as he inspected his crew. From right to left, the demons were a mixture of different shapes and sizes. One had dark green skin with bumps on his face, his left eye shut, no right hand, and a red scarf on his head; one man was large with purple skin, no shirt, and portly with a clam for a head wearing a sailor cap; one had teal skin with one eye, and a jellyfish for hair with a salamander tail; and the final made was just a red fish with legs and small fin arms.

And then there were the two humans, the two that stood out the most. 

"Alright, crew. The Selkidomus has been ravaging the coastline. It was last seen in the Simmering Shoals. You know the drill, snag the quarry…" Salty pulled out and dropped a large sack of snails onto the deck. "...get the money galore-y. We all do the work; we all get a cut."

Booker and Luz began cheering with the rest of the crew. Their goal was just within reach. "I have many debts," said a fish sailor, waving his fins. 

"Till then, keep everything shipshape. This ain't no pleasure cruise," Salty said, throwing a broom to Luz and a bucket of water and soap to Booker's feet. "Don't be a burden, Squidlings."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about us," said Booker with a challenging smirk. Determined to prove his worth. 

The first of the random tasks they were given was barnacle duty. Barnacles were all over the front of the ship, and someone had to scrape them off. The only problem was that they had mouths and sharp teeth. And Salty picked the kids to do it. 

Salty offered Luz and Booker a scraper to get the job done, but they declined. The Dominican girl pulled out a plant glyph and slapped it on the rail in front of Booker. The veins wrapped around the young man and lowered him down like a harness. The Seventh Son dangled in front of the barnacles, which grunted at her. Booker hissed, causing them to quiet down. He then pulled out Dragon's Bite and scraped them off the ship. 

Next on the list was engine maintenance. Salty brought Booker down into the bellows of the ship's engine, which worked like a steam engine. It required coal to run, which was why Salty shoveled coal into it. 

For a moment, Booker's pyrophobia acted up a bit, but the Seventh Son powered through it. He had been working hard to control his fears of fire, and he wasn't going to panic now—not when he and Luz were on this very important mission. 

Salty offered the shovel to Booker, but he shook his head and pushed it away. He then clapped his hands and formed a ball of fire. He pushed it directly into the bellows and closed the door. Taking a few steps back, Booker snapped his fingers, and the fireball expanded. Smoke shot from all corners before the ship sped off faster than before. In spite of the soot covering half of Salty's face, he smiled and nodded at Booker.