Welcome to the Isles
I woke slowly, stretching myself out and shivering lightly as a wave of cold air hit me. Where… blanket? I thought groggily. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes, blinking blearily as I patted my hands along the frigid floor, searching for my missing blanket. After a moment, my hand hit something warm and fuzzy, and I looked up to see King glaring down at me, holding my blanket.
“King…?” I said, my voice husky with sleep. “Is something wrong? What’re you doing with my blanket?” The floor was hard beneath me, making me wince in discomfort as I shifted.
“Human!” He squeaked. “Er… Luz, I mean.” His glare softened, “Eda’s busy, and I’m hungry! Make me something!”
I took a moment to register what he said, my mind struggling to wake up. “Is it morning already?”
“What? No!” He said, glare returning. “It’s just after three. You’ve been asleep for hours. Make me dinner!”
I groaned, laying back down and throwing an arm over my eyes to block out the light. “King, I had a very long, hard night. Can you please let me sleep?” I heard him shuffling and flinched when something smacked my arm. I moved it off my face, glaring at the demon as annoyance bubbled up in me. “Hey! Stop that. Can you go away?”
Anger entered his little voice. “No! I’m hungry! Feed me! You can sleep after.”
I sat up, throwing my hands in the air in surrender. “Fine!" I snapped, "I’ll be down in a minute.”
He tossed the blanket on my head with a weh! before running out of my room and pounding down the stairs.
Rolling my eyes, I threw the blanket off my head and stood up shakily. Across the room was a gilded mirror, the only thing in the room not covered in dust and cobwebs. I stared at my reflection, which stared right back. I was filthy; my previously white shirt was brown with dirt, the flannel around my waist likewise coated. My jeans had a long tear at the knee, the skin beneath bruised and bloodied from my fall. I picked rocks out of the gash, hissing in pain. Looking up, I groaned when I saw my face, which was streaked with dirt and blood. My hair wasn’t any better. I ran a hand through it, trying to fluff up the sweat-stained spikes, grimacing as they refused to comply.
Leaving my room, I looked side to side. To my right lay the staircase, and to my left, a dark hallway with no windows to illuminate it. I set off down the latter, going from door to door until I found the bathroom. Entering, I glanced around, taking in the small space. There wasn’t much to it; half the room was taken up by a shower, with a toilet and sink crammed in the rest. Spying a basket against a wall, I opened it, a little wary of what I might find. I sighed in relief when I saw it was just towels, pulling out the cleanest looking one and hanging it on a hook by the shower. Turning on the water, I quickly undressed before stepping in, letting out a blissful sigh as warm water hit my sore body. My eyes unfocused and my mind wandered as I began to relax.
BANG!
I jumped, startled out of my head. “Ah! What?!”
King’s angry squeaking floated through the door. “Luuuz! Hurry up, I’m hungry!”
I cleared my throat, quickly washing my hair as I called back, “Sorry, I’ll be out in a minute!”
“That’s what you said last time…” came the grumbling response.
I winced, choosing not to answer as I focused on getting clean. A minute or two later, I reluctantly stepped out of the shower, throwing the towel around my body and picking up my dirty clothes before heading back to my room, closing the door behind me. Tossing the clothes into a corner, I headed over to my bag, pulling out a bra and underwear, as well as a pair of dark purple sweatpants and a navy t-shirt. After pulling them on, I exited my room and thumped down the stairs, ruffling my hair with my hands as I tried not to fall.
Entering the living room, my eyes went to King, who was sitting at the table with his little arms crossed, his face screwed up in a pout.
“Sorry, King!” I said to him, making him glance up. I moved into the kitchen opening the cupboards to see what I could find. “What do you want for dinner?”
“You better be!” he snapped. After a moment, the pout dropped off his face and eagerness took its place. “I want toast!”
Nodding, I moved around the kitchen area, eventually managing to find both the bread and butter. My eyebrows furrowed, and I turned to King, who was watching me expectantly. “Do you have a toaster?”
He squinted. “A what?”
“It’s a… never mind.” I sighed, turning back around. “I’ll just do it on the stove. How many pieces do you want?”
“Hmmm,” he tapped his snout. “Two!”
Making a sound of affirmation, I dug through the cabinets for a skillet, finally pulling one out and setting it down on the stove. Moving to ignite it, I hesitated. “King?”
“Weh?”
“There aren’t any dials. How do I turn it on?”
“Oh! Um, magic,” he said, snapping his claws together. Hopping off the chair, he ran up the stairs, wailing, “EDDDAAAA!!!”
A minute later he appeared, dragging Eda in tow. She wore a cranky expression and was holding the sword I had stolen for her. Without looking at me, she drew a small circle in the air, muttering all the while about obnoxious demons. The burner behind me lit with a sudden whoomph, making me jump and turn back around. I quickly smeared some butter on the pan before placing down the two slices of bread. The fire Eda had conjured was hot, it only took a moment for the bread to brown. Grabbing a plate, I moved the toast onto it, hissing in pain at the heat. I placed it down in front of King, who was sitting at the table once again.
“There you go,” I said, shaking out my burned hand, “Toast del King.”
“Thanks!” he replied, cramming the first slice into his mouth. “Isht goob,” he mumbled through the bread, spewing crumbs everywhere.
I chuckled, patting his head before walking over to Eda, who stood frowning by the couch as she eyed the walls, still holding the sword. “Hey Eda, I’m done with the stove, how do I extinguish it?
A few seconds went by without a response.
“Eda…?” I prompted.
She turned. “What? Oh, right.” She snapped her fingers, causing the flame to die with a low hiss.
I craned my head, trying to determine what she was looking at. “Sooo, what are you doing?”
She held the sword out to me distractedly. “Trying to find a place for this… make yourself useful and hold this to that empty spot over there,” she said, gesturing vaguely with her free hand.
Studying the direction she pointed, I noticed a bare spot on the otherwise packed walls. I walked over, standing on my tiptoes as I stretched to hold the sword up against the wall, my tired arms shaking with the effort. “Here?” I asked in a strained voice.
“Yes, perfect! Now, just hold it still for a sec.”
I bit back a groan, leaning my head against the wall as I focused on not dropping the very sharp sword on my neck.
“Alright, kid. It’s up, you can let go.”
I gently lowered my hands, half expecting the sword to follow. When it didn’t, I stepped back towards Eda, lowering my arms in relief. Crossing my arms, I backed up to stand beside her and looked up at the sword, now held up by a thin, golden spell. “Why did you want it, anyways?” I asked curiously, turning my head to gaze at the feathery witch.
She grinned, raising a hand and drawing a spell circle, making a sphere of pale, yellow light appear in front of her. “Watch.”
She pointed her finger at the sword, making the light whiz towards it, coming to a stop just in front of it and hovering. My breath caught in my throat as the light refracted off the glass, becoming a swirling blaze of colors that danced beneath the sword’s surface and flew across the room, illuminating the space with gently swaying patterns of light.
“Oh…” was all I could say as I slowly turned a circle, eyes darting around the room in awe. A laugh rose in me, and I spun to face the Owl Lady, whose pupils were dilated as they followed the twirling lights, her mouth hung up in awe. “This is amazing!” I crowed. “Totally worth almost dying for.” Grinning widely, I focused my attention back on the lights, marveling in their beauty.
Suddenly, they disappeared. Eda and I turned as one, looking for the cause. King stood glaring at us beneath the sword, holding a long stick in his paws. “I’m trying to nap,” he complained, “and I can’t do it with that bright light in here.” Throwing the stick on the ground with a weh, he retreated to a windowsill, climbing up and curling up with his back to us.
I shook my head at him, looking at Eda with a smile. “Well, it was nice while it lasted.”
She nodded with a sigh, turning and walking to the front door. “I need to get some stuff from the market before it closes, I’ll be back in a couple hours. Luz, clean the house for me while I’m gone.”
My eyes widened, protests instantly springing to my lips. “Wait, what? But I just got here today! None of this,” I gestured to the mess around me, “is from me. Why do I have to clean it?”
Eda rolled her eyes in response and summoned a pile of cleaning supplies. “Because I said so. Now, get to it!” With that, she grabbed her staff and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her.
“Ha! You have to clean!” came King’s singsong voice from the window. I turned to glare at the smug demon, who waited until I make eye contact with him before reaching out and knocking a plant off the windowsill. He glanced down at the pot on the floor, then back up at me with an innocent expression on his face. “Oops! My mistake. Guess you have to clean that up now too!” Before I could come up with a retort, he jumped off the window and ran upstairs, cackling all the while.
“Ohhh,” I growled under my breath, “ese demonio estuipdo.” Shaking my head, I make my way over to the pile Eda had left, sorting through it to see what I could use. Picking up a box, I turned it over to read the fading label: Max’s Bottomless Trash Bags! For all your witch needs. Warning: change biweekly to avoid smells.
Shrugging, I opened the box and unraveled a bag, throwing the box over my shoulder as I made my way towards the nearest trash pile. Stooping down, I begun to work, grabbing handfuls of mystery items and shoving them into the bag, flinching in disgust at the unfamiliar textures. Slowly, I worked my way across the room, sweating a bit with the effort.
After an hour, I was finally done. I stood with a low groan, my back tight after being stooped over for so long. I glanced down, noticing that the bag in my hand looked like it was still empty. Curious, I lifted it to my face and poked my head inside, immediately gagging at the horridly rancid smell. Struggling to not throw up, I shoved the bag away, taking deep breaths to stabilize my rebelling stomach. A minute passed until I felt well enough to try again, this time plugging my nose with my free hand before attempting it. I took a deep breath and held it before cautiously looking inside, fighting back an amazed gasp.
The things I had picked up were in the bag, just shrunken down into miniature versions of themselves, so small I couldn’t differentiate one oddly shaped blob from another. I moved the bag away, letting out my breath as a stupid grin lit up my face. “Magic is so cool…” I murmured to myself.
Shaking myself out of my stupor, I quickly tied off the bag and moved towards the front door, opening it and chucking the bag outside. I stood there for a moment, smiling softly at the landscape; the forested hills lit orange by the nearly setting sun.
“Hiya Luz!”
“Gah!” I screamed, jumping to the side and slamming into the door frame with a dull thud, causing me to lose my balance and fall forward. Instinctively throwing my arms out, I hit the ground hard, rolling onto my back as I scrambled away from the voice. Glancing around frantically, I froze, making eye contact with the owl tube on the door.
It opened its beak, the irritating voice starting again. “Geez, no need for that! It’s just me, your old pal Hooty, hoot hoot!”
I let out a peeved breath before standing warily. “Hi… Hooty. Sorry,” I apologized, “I forgot all about you.” I wrung my hands awkwardly, not knowing what to say to this strange bird.
“That’s okay! It happens allllll the time. Why, just the other day Eda-” Nodding, I tuned him out, slinking my way back inside and closing the door. I leaned against it with a sigh, sliding down until I was sitting on the floor. Behind me, I could hear Hooty still chattering to himself.
I turned my head, eyeing the cleaning supplies next to me. “Just get it over with, Noceda, then you can go back to sleep,” I muttered to myself, reaching out and grabbing a broom before heaving myself upright with a huff. I started sweeping, wrinkling my nose at the dust that rose into the air. Pulling up my shirt, I tucked the collar over my nose as an impromptu mask.
I made quick work of sweeping, dumping the resulting pile into another trash bag, not wanting to have to talk to Hooty again. Broom and bag in hand, I made my way upstairs, pausing every step to sweep. Entering my room, I used the broom handle to clear away the cobwebs in the corners, dropping the sticky bundle in the bag once I finished. There wasn’t anything piled on the floor up here, so I picked up my bedding and swept, quickly finishing and moving to the hallway and bathroom, where I repeated the process.
By the time I entered Eda’s room, I was exhausted and ready to be done. I stopped just past the threshold, blinking slowly. “This is… not what I expected,” I muttered, scanning the dimly lit room. For a lady with so much clutter downstairs, her room was surprisingly empty, except for the huge bird nest in the middle of it. Dropping the bag, I made my way over to it, curiously looking over the edge. It was about ten feet in diameter and three feet deep, with random stuff scattered inside it. I squinted, picking up a nearly intact skeleton near me. “Oh lovely,” I said to myself, placing it in the trash bag with a shudder. “Wonder what that was.”
Grumbling, I climbed into the nest, getting to work on throwing away anything resembling garbage. Besides the skeletons, molted feathers, and grey spheres that look suspiciously like owl pellets, Eda did have some nice things in her nest. Peeking through the layered branches were bright, shining objects; most appearing to be minerals or precious metals. All of which would probably make me a fortune back on Earth. I shook my head at the thought, finishing cleaning up and moving to leave the nest. Too busy in my own head, I forgot to watch where I was going, and my foot got hooked on a branch, making me stumble and fall with a yelp.
“Owwww,” I groaned, my face buried against the nest. “Surprisingly comfortable, though,” I added in a slightly brighter voice. I pushed myself up, sitting on folded knees as I rubbed my head. Feeling something cold against my chest, I looked down, letting out a sound of disgust when I noticed there was a smear of big, black goo stuck to my shirt.
“What is this?” I said, aghast. Reaching up a hand, I poked it cautiously. It was cool and a little moist, squishing easily beneath my finger. Suddenly it started to tremble, making me draw my finger back with a sharp inhale of shock. It slid off my shirt, flowing like water into my lap, where it condensed into a round blob. A little sphere poked out of the main mass, forming something akin to a head as it spun around.
“Awww,” I cooed, “you’re pretty cute, senor esfera!” Cupping my hands, I held them out in front of the blob. It seemed to hesitant, then rolled on, tickling my palms and making me laugh. Carefully, I stood and climbed out of the nest, leaving Eda’s room and heading down the stairs. “King, you in here?” I called out.
“On the couch…” came his sleepy reply.
Spinning on my heel, I walked over to him, keeping my strides smooth for my passenger, who jiggled slightly with my every step. Kneeling in front of the couch, I held my hands out towards King, who was curled up napping. “King!” I exclaimed, “look what I found!”
“Luz, I am sleeping,” he growled, cracking open an eye to glare at me. His eye quickly focused on the thing in my hands instead, the other opening to stare at the blob curiously. “Whoa… Where did you find that thing?”
“In Eda’s nest, I tripped and landed on it. What is it?”
He blinked, tilting his head. “I have no clue; it doesn’t look like any demon or monster I’ve ever heard of.”
The blob wiggled a bit, then leaped out of my hands, landing on the floor and rolling around in circles, each little lap enunciated with a hop.
King wiggled off the couch, putting his head down by the floor to stare at it in wonder. “Hmm,” he pondered, “there are no visible changes in uniformity, which is unusual. It’s perfectly round, but it looks like it can change the density of its body.” He reached out his paws, catching the creature between them and bringing it to a sudden halt. Slowly, he tightened his paws around it, making it elongate and squish through King’s claws. He lifted it up, only for it to pour out through the gaps in his fingers, forming a singular mass once it hit the floor.
I furrowed my eyebrows and studied it for a moment, then chimed in to his musings. “Given how it can divide itself while still retaining full function, it must be entirely one substance: something that can both send and receive neural signals. That’s so cool!”
King looked at me in surprise. “Huh. Not bad, human. You’re a lot smart than you look!”
I huffed, narrowing my eyes at him before shrugging. “I took an advanced biology class in school. I’m interested in that stuff.”
King distractedly waved a paw at me, turning back to watch as the blob continued rolling in circles.
I shook my head at the demon before standing up, an idea popping into my head. “I’ll be right back,” I told him, walking towards the stairs. “I’m gonna go grab my phone so I can send a picture to my Mami!” Forgetting to watch where I was going, I suddenly felt something squish under my foot, making me slip and fall on my face.
I rolled onto my back with a groan, bringing up my hands and rubbing my aching head. I could hear King cackling maniacally in the background. I lifted up my leg, angling my foot towards my face to see what I stepped on. It was the blob. Inhaling sharply, I lifted a hand and peeled it off my foot, shuddering at the weird sensation.
“Sorry, little buddy,” I apologized, “I didn’t see you there.” I set it gently on the floor, frowning when it remained motionless.
King poked it with a claw. “I think you killed it! Nice going, klutz!”
Tears sprung to my eyes. “I didn’t mean to!" I whined regretfully, "it was just so small; I didn’t see it!”
He snorted in derision. “Yeah right! You probably did it on pur- Hey, look! It’s moving!”
I looked back at the creature, which was trembling as its body slowly elongated, becoming round on the two ends as the connection began to sever. There were now two little blobs, each moving independently of the other. I blinked slowly in shock. “Did it just… multiple through death?”
King shrugged, “Looks like it!”
I shook my head in wonderment, standing up carefully. “Alrightly then. I’ll be right back,” I said, exiting the room and climbing up the stairs, turning sharply at the top to enter my room. “Now,” I murmured to myself, “Where did I leave my phone?” I stood there for a minute, scanning the room as I tried to remember where I had put it. Finally, I spotted it sticking out from under my bedroll, exclaiming, “there it is!”
Back down the stairs I went, only to stop in my tracks in the doorway, staring in surprise and disbelief at the scene before me. “King! What did you do?!”
The demon in question looked at me smugly, surrounded by little, bouncing blobs. “I raised an army, of course! They will strike fear into my enemies’ hearts!”
The blobs began to move erratically, zipping towards one another in a manic dance. They piled on top of one another, forming a singular, beaded mass. They moved in sync, flowing from one shape to the next before stopping on a cylindrical one. A mouth-like depression formed on the side of the curve, turning to face King as long, sharp-looking spikes emerged around the rim.
I moved towards him, a bad feeling rising in me. “King…” I asked cautiously, “what are they doing?”
He looked up at me, pride lighting up his eyes. “Getting ready to fight for me, of course!” He turned back to the creature, pointing an arm towards the front door. “Now go! Cause chaos and ruin!”
It turned towards the door, then back to King. The indentation in it widened, and it lunged towards King, who stood frozen in shock.
“Mierda!” I cursed, quickly reaching down and grabbing King before jumping out of the way. “I don’t think it liked you killing it so much!” I told King, who glared up at me.
“Oh, you think!?” He squeaked.
The blob went rolling past, skidding a bit as it reoriented itself for another charge. I shifted King, freeing an arm as I looked around, hoping to spot some mystical weapon. My eyes landed on the Sword of Speculo, sending me running across the room to grab it.
I yanked it down, breaking Eda’s magical restraints with a snap! Cradling King in one arm and hefting the sword in the other, I turned to face the angry mass rolling towards me. Swinging desperately, I hit it across the mouth with the flat of the blade, sending it flying and shattering the spikes, which turned to goop as the fragments hit the floor before rolling back to join the mass.
“King?!” I called in distress, “what do I do?!”
The demon in my arm looked up at me, panic clear in his wide eyes. “I-I don’t know!” He stammered. “I’ve heard of anything like this thing!”
I grimaced, preparing myself as it came charging back. As I swung, light reflected off the sword, searing through the blob with a loud hiss. I froze instantly, my jaw dropping as I stared at the now cowering thing.
King grabbed my shirt and yanked, grabbing my attention as he looked up at me. “Whatever you just did, do it again!”
Nodding, I maneuvered myself until I stood opposite of the window, the blob shivering in between. Angling the sword, I caught the fading sunlight on the blade, manipulating it until the refracted light pointed straight through the creature. It shook wildly, a keening note rising from it as its insides disintegrated, crumbling steadily into a fine, black powder. Its body contracted around the hole in its center, trying in vain to fill it. The death cry went shrill as the light ate its way through, rapidly decreasing in volume as it fell apart.
After a minute, it was gone; totally reduced to black dust. I stood still, immobile in my shock. I cleared my throat, shaking my head lightly as I set King down on the floor before moving to the table, placing the sword on it and sitting down heavily. Leaning my elbows on the table, I put my head in my hands, taking a deep breath before muttering to myself. “Why is there always something here that’s trying to kill me?”
King answered in a bright voice. “That’s the Boiling Isles for you. I almost got eaten four different times last week!”
I lifted my head, turning to stare at the demon. He was squatting next to the blob’s remains, poking a claw into the pile. Curiously, he bought a pinch of it up to his nose-holes, sniffing it. Immediately, he began to sneeze, the disturbance sending powder flying across the room every which way. He looked at me, eyes wide. “Oops?”
I stared at the mess mournfully. “I’ll go get the broom,” I said with a sigh, jogging upstairs to grab it and the bag. I came down just in time to see the door slam open, Eda marching through with a scowl as she surveyed the filthy floor.
“I thought I told you to clean, not make it dirtier!” She exclaimed, looking at me. “What did you two do in here?!”
I blinked, unsure of what to say. I looked at King, then back at Eda. “I-”
She stopped me with a wave, floating the sword back into its place on the wall. “Never mind, I don’t care. Just sweep it up and meet me in your room. I got stuff for you.”
“Aww!” I said with a grin. “Eda! You care about me!”
“Nonsense!” she snapped, shoving past me to go up the stairs, muttering, “I’ve just been meaning to do something with that room for a while.”
Still smiling, I made quick work of sweeping up, dumping the gathered powder in the trash bag before tying it off and chucking it outside. Spinning on my heel, I ran up the stairs and into my room, eager to see the changes.
I stopped in the doorway, my excitement rising as I looked around. The small, previously empty room now held a bed and a dresser. The former was fully equipped with sheets, blankets, two pillows, and a narrow nightstand. I turned to Eda, who stood off to the side grinning at my reaction.
“Eda… this is amazing! Thank you!” I exclaimed to the witch, who chuckled.
“You’re welcome kid.” She moved past me to leave the room, adding, “Now, get to sleep! Busy day tomorrow.”
I nodded, closing the door behind her. Moving to the bed, I looked down to see King already curled up on a pillow. Smiling, I climbed in and got comfortable, my eyes drifted closed as I fell asleep.