Five days have gone by since Maxwell felt ill. The day after his power returned, he had Luz help him place his hands on his belly and he spoke in a foreign language and his hands glowed a gold light and his stomach glowed the same colored light. This made every bit of discomfort he felt disappear. He was healed completely and his appetite was back as he had a large sandwich or two that had plenty of cheese, meat and even bacon. He sure loved the meat and cheese when it came to anything involving it.
It was getting close to nightfall while Eda, Luz and King were in one room but Maxwell was in the living room. He saw that Owlbert was in the room with him and he was watching him as if examining him to see how he reacts or behaves like an animal expert studying animals from a distance. Owlbert was stretching his legs and looked towards Maxwell with a curious look.
Owlbert hooted at Maxwell with a curious look. Maxwell was silent and Owlbert could sense that something was on Maxwell's mind or that something was bothering him.
He hooted at him again to get Maxwell's attention but he was again unresponsive. This left the little male owl scratching his head with one of his wings.
"I have to do this tonight. It's my only chance to help Eda with her curse." said Maxwell in his head.
Owlbert smiled and gotten an idea to get Maxwell's attention. He grinned and blushed as he hooted to Maxwell while making motions with his wings that looked like he was blowing him kisses, making an attractive pose with his body as if pretending to be a woman that is flirting with a man.
"Eda wants to do what with me?" said Maxwell out loud.
He looked towards Owlbert and he saw the little male owl hooting in a laughing motion. Owlbert pointed one of his wings at him.
"Owlbert, why did you tell me that?" asked Maxwell annoyed.
The little owl hooted while making his wings show that it looked as though it was pointing to his own head and making a gesture that looked as though he was pointing up to the sky as if telling him his head was up in space.
"It's nothing to worry about." Maxwell lied.
Owlbert could sense he was lying as he hooted at Maxwell while his wings made a motion that looked as though he was knocking on a door and pointing to his head.
"I'm just thinking." Maxwell said.
Owlbert raised his wings as if asking him what he was thinking of.
"I'm just thinking of something that needs to be done but..." Maxwell paused.
Owlbert walked over towards Maxwell as he hooted at Maxwell while looking like his wings were making gestures that looked as though he was concerned about what was on the young male human's mind.
"You sure you want to know? I'm not so sure if you want to know because Luz and King know but no one else does. Besides, you'd laugh at me." said Maxwell sadly.
This was when Owlbert looked at Maxwell with a worried expression and started to hoot at him gently while making gestures with his wings that showed he pointed at him, than drew out the shape of a heart in the air and made a hugging motion. Maxwell could see that Owlbert was trying to help him. Maxwell sighed and blushed.
"Owlbert, you care about Luz, do you? Even King?" asked Maxwell.
Owlbert nodded with a grin.
"Well, there's this girl I like but the thing is, I really like her but I'm terrified of her at the same time. I know it sounds confusing but that's how I feel about this girl." explained Maxwell. "She's going through something that I know she can't fix on her own, she may be a tough lady who can handle anything and isn't afraid of anything, but I sense that something bad is coming her way and I really want to help her but I don't want to get her hopes up, which is why I didn't say anything nor did I say who she is to anyone."
Owlbert listened and he could tell that Maxwell looked desperate, that he really meant what he was telling him from the blushing and worried look upon his face. He hooted and looked as though he was curious to who this girl is.
"No, I didn't tell her. Luz and King know that I got a mystery woman I like but I didn't tell them who it is. I really like this girl but if I help her, I'm hoping she'll like me back. She's the most beautiful woman in the world, I like her but I'm also afraid of her. She's everything that I'm not, brave, confident, rebellious, sassy, fierce, fearless and foxy for her age, even though she's not old, she looks like she's young enough to be twenty-one, even if she's in her thirties, but she still looks young and drop dead beautiful." explained Maxwell looking desperate for assistance.
When Owlbert heard this, he was wide eyed with surprise at first, than grinned, blushed and hooted in a chuckling motion. He began to hoot at him and point a wing at him. Maxwell blushed from this.
"Is it normal?" asked Maxwell nervously. "Is it normal that I like Eda?"
"Ooooo, someone likes Eda?" came a teasing male voice.
Maxwell froze like a statue, his heart filled with surprise, nervousness and embarrassment at the fact he was overheard. The person who came from the hallway entrance of the living room was King. He was smiling and giggling loudly.
"Oh no." whispered Maxwell.
"I knew it! Maxie likes Eda! Maxie likes Eda!" teased King in a sing song voice.
King was laughing and giggling but doing a bit of a mocking like dance as if he found the fact of Maxwell being in love with Eda to be the cutest thing he's ever heard. Maxwell couldn't believe that he found out.
"Maxie and Eda, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love." King teased in a sing song voice.
"Keep your voice down, please!" Maxwell begged.
"So you told Owlbert, huh? I actually expected you would tell Luz first because she's kind of like mama bear towards you." said King blushing. "So who else knows?"
"Owlbert, and without warning, now you know." said Maxwell with a loud hiccup.
"Who else knows what?" came a female's voice.
They turned to see Luz entering the room and she could see that Maxwell was blushing deep red. King was trying to hold in his urges to tease as he knew that Maxwell was afraid to tell anyone who he's in love with in the first place. He blushed and fidgeted with his paws and the claws on his paws.
"Nothing, we know nothing!" lied Maxwell.
Luz could see the shifty look in their eyes and the fact that Maxwell was nervous as a yappy little dog. King was trying not to look her in the eye. Owlbert looked like he was calm under pressure at this moment. Luz had a mischievous grin and a playful look in her eyes.
"Are you three talking about guy stuff again or are you hiding something?" giggled Luz.
"What?" Maxwell said nervously.
"We're not hiding anything." lied King.
Luz looked as though she could see through them and knew they were lying and hiding something. She came over to King and picked him up in her arms. King tried to remain as calm and cool under pressure as possible.
"What are you guys hiding from mama Luz?" said Luz with a grin.
"Nothing, just guy stuff." King lied nervously.
She reached out to gently rub King's belly with one finger to stroke his belly and belly button, causing King to blush so deeply and one of his legs shook. He looked as though he was being tickled but it felt good.
"Come on, cutie pie. What were you all talking about. You know you can tell me and I'll be supportive, no matter what it is." said Luz in an adorable tone.
"Ohhh Luz, I can't. Ohhh this feels so good but it's my weakness." moaned King.
Maxwell was trying to remain cool under pressure but he was horrible at it as this situation was caught off guard for a lot of them. King moaned and looked as though the pleasantly tickly sensation to his belly was making him weaker to Luz's attempt to convince him to tell her what they were talking about.
"Is it an embarrassing subject? You guys know I won't laugh at you if you need someone to talk about that with." said Luz kindly.
Maxwell remembered how supportive Luz has been to him this whole time and he always felt comfortable around her with many things such as discussing embarrassing topics but he was almost feeling as if this is the one thing he couldn't tell her. King was looking like he was in paradise from how his body felt like it was having every itch on his body being scratched and itched for him all over.
"Maxie, ohhhh, maybe we should tell her. Luz is a really sweet and understanding girl. She'll understand about how you feel about Eda." moaned King.
Hearing that suddenly had Luz stop, her heart almost skipped a beat or two. King felt his body was relaxed and he fell from her arms and landed on his feet. She turned towards a blushing and vulnerable Maxwell as he looked down at his feet.
"Wait, what?" said Luz looking surprised.
Owlbert chimed in and hooted about what was going on as he used his wings to motion towards Maxwell, King and himself as if speaking in sign language that only owls know. Luz remembered that day when King told her and Eda that he managed to help Maxwell feel better in talking about a subject that was bothering Maxwell, telling her it was just them talking about "Guy Stuff" and she remembered when King blurted out by accident that Maxwell is in love with a girl whom he never told them who she is by name. It all started to connect and she smiled.
"Are you saying you went to Owlbert to talk about this, King found out about it too and that this mystery woman your in love with is Eda?" said Luz looking giddy. "Are you saying you like Eda?"
Maxwell tried to say something but when his mouth opened, no sound came out at first. He was blushing the deepest shade of red, gulped and hiccuped loudly. She came over to him and placed her hand on his chest where his heart was located. Maxwell knew that there was no avoiding this and no lying his way out of it this time. He looked up at her.
"I...I...I do. I like Eda." Maxwell finally confessed.
Luz blushed with a sparkling and excited look in her eyes which was like her reaction when she met King. She pulled him in her arms and hugged Maxwell tightly in her arms. Maxwell felt like she was squeezing him tightly.
"Oh feliz día, bebé!" said Luz in an excited tone.
"Too tight, too tight. King, she's crushing me." said Maxwell weakly.
Luz loosened her grip on Maxwell and began to kiss him on his cheek repeatedly.
"Maxie, since when?" asked Luz.
"Since the witches daul against Lilith. The moment Eda kissed me on the lips. She gave me my first kiss." Maxwell confessed.
"Who else knows?" asked Luz hopefully.
"You, King, Owlbert. I first talked to King about it but I didn't tell him the name, than you found out, and now Owlbert." answered Maxwell.
"Looks like I too found out." chimed in Hooty. "Don't worry, I won't tell."
Maxwell felt like Hooty was giving him a word of comfort. Luz was so happy to hear this.
"Have you told Eda?" asked Luz.
"No! Please don't tell her." begged Maxwell.
He shook his head desperately as he really didn't want Luz to tell Eda.
"Por favor no se lo digas. No le digas a Eda." begged Maxwell desperately.
He shed a tear and Luz could tell this was very serious to him. She placed both hands on Maxwell's chest where his heart was located. She was doing this in an attempt to calm him.
"So your in love with Eda?" said Luz trying to calm him.
Maxwell managed to calm down enough to feel comfortable telling them this as he let out a sigh.
"She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. My heart beats faster when I'm around her. I can't disobey her, I'd do anything for her. But..." Maxwell paused.
"But what?" said Luz curiously.
The image of Eda's face was in Maxwell's head, he was not only enchanted by Eda's powerful beauty but he did remember many times when Eda would be battling against an evil person and remembered when she was asserting authority and his body got a shocking dose of fright. He was breathing in and out in a fast rate as he shed another tear.
"I'm scared Luz. I like Eda, but I'm scared of her too." said Maxwell his voice nearly shaking.
"Your scared of Eda?" said King a bit surprised.
They saw the fright in his eyes and they knew that this was Maxwell being romantically ambivalent, he's in love with Eda and terrified of her at the same time. He nodded.
"Maxie, you know, when I first met Eda, I was a little afraid of her at first. But she showed me I got no reason to be afraid of her. The only times I would be afraid of her is when I did the conjuring spell with Willow and Gus and she found out I animated the house. When both her and King found out, I'll admit, I was so terrified of her that I felt like I was going to be killed. But the only thing she had us doing was clean the house from top to bottom. But she did say how thrilled she was about how we did this conjuring, she wanted to join us in that when ever the conjuring was to happen again. But what we learned there was that Eda may have looked scary when she found out, but the punishment she had us go through was sort of like a slap to the wrist. She did apologize for scaring me a little afterwards, even King." explained Luz as she was hoping this would comfort Maxwell.
"We may have been really irate but we couldn't believe how she was able to do such a cool conjuring yet we forgiven Luz. Who could stay mad at that little girl's sweet and adorable face. I mean come on, Luz is like a teddy bear, you just want to hug her all the time." said King kindly.
Luz blushed and smiled as King's kind words had her feeling tickled pink. Hearing them tell him this only had Maxwell feeling a little comfort but the mixed feelings of being in love and terrified were still lingering inside him.
"Maxie, do you need help with telling Eda how you feel?" asked Luz kindly.
Maxwell knew they were being very supportive but he knew that there was an idea in mind he could do in order to win Eda's heart which had him swallow his fear.
"I can't just straight up tell her. She'd laugh at me." said Maxwell looking saddened.
"Oh come on, big guy. Eda wouldn't laugh at you. When she sees you've worked up the courage to tell her, she'd be touched by the idea. When you showed confidence or when you showed rebelliousness or when you stood up to someone who was hurting you, she was fully on your side. She was cheering for you." said King remembering.
"Well, it's not that I don't want to tell her. It's just there's an idea in mind on how I want to tell her." said Maxwell.
"What idea do you have in mind to win her heart?" asked Luz curiously.
Maxwell swallowed his fear as he let out a sigh and looked right at them.
"I want to help with her curse. If I can do something to ether help get rid of her curse forever or help keep her curse at bay with the right potion that could keep it at bay for longer than a day. Maybe a week, a month, six months or even a year. Just to buy her some time so I can find a way to get rid of her curse and free her from it. Than I'd tell her. I want to tell her after I can succeed in helping her." explained Maxwell.
They looked at him with wide eyed expressions of surprise. He wanted to help Eda with her curse? Ether by getting her curse removed permanently or to keep her curse at bay for longer than a day to buy Eda some time in order to find out how to remove her curse forever. They knew that this was a big step or a big challenge that none of them ever thought of.
"Is that the only idea on your mind?" asked King.
Maxwell nodded and they knew this was serious.
"There's no talking me out of this. Eda's curse is getting worse as time goes by and the times I read her mind is telling me that. The elixir is going to no longer work at keeping her curse at bay soon, she may not want to tell us about it so we wouldn't worry but I know it's going to happen. I can't lose Eda, if we lose her, than like a building of cards once you take one of them away, we'll fall. We need Eda as much as she needs us." explained Maxwell looking serious.
Luz, King and Owlbert looked at Maxwell with stunned shock. He was able to know that Eda's elixir will one day stop working on the curse as time goes by and that her curse will become too strong for it. They could see that he knew it would happen soon but they didn't know when that'll be. Maxwell walked over to get his bag and he pulled out a vial from his bag and showed it to them.
"This is a disguise potion. I got it from Morton in the market place in town. I told him about Eda's situation and how I know her elixir will eventually no longer work on her curse. I asked him if he had anything that is stronger, even though he told me he doesn't at the moment. He told me someone who does but this person goes to the night time market once a month. The day I got it, he told me it was two weeks from that time and today is the day that I got to act. I'll use this potion in order to disguise myself so no one will recognize me. I'm doing this for Eda. I can't give up. She's done so much for us, even me. This is my chance to do something for her." Maxwell told them.
"Oh Dios mío!" said Luz shocked.
"You must really love Eda to want to do this. Aren't you afraid?" said King looking shocked.
"I'm terrified. But I think my sense of love is bigger than my sense of fear." Maxwell admitted.
Luz was feeling like she was happy to hear this as she was hoping that Maxwell would work up the courage to tell one of them who he's in love with and what he wanted to do in order to win the said lucky girls heart. But she had no idea this was what he had in mind. Owlbert felt touched by this.
"But there's just one little problem." said Maxwell.
"How are you going to pull that off?" said Luz curiously.
Owlbert hooted to get their attention and he flew up in the air and landed on Maxwell's shoulder as he started to hoot in his ear like he was whispering an idea into Maxwell's ear. He listened to him and suddenly was wide eyed at the idea.
"Owlbert, you sure that'll work?" said Maxwell.
Owlbert nodded with a serious and determined look as he nuzzled his face against Maxwell's cheek while hooting sweetly to him.
"Okay, but everyone has to stay here. I got to do this on my own. I don't want to risk anyone else's life." said Maxwell looking stoic.
"Maxie, I know you want to do this alone but it's too dangerous for you to do it alone." said Luz worried for him.
"But Luz, I don't want you to get hurt because of me." said Maxwell trying to convince her.
"Maxie, I know you don't want me getting hurt but I know you'll get hurt if you go alone." said Luz looking as though she made up her mind.
"But." he began.
Luz suddenly placed her hands on Maxwell's shoulders and Owlbert flew off his shoulder and flew over towards King and Luz pinned Maxwell to his back to the wall while she looked like she had a serious look on her face. Maxwell was now showing a bit of surprised fear from this as if he's feeling fear of Luz for the first time.
"I know your looking out for me but I'm going with you to help you. Don't argue with me, I'll watch your back and you'll watch mine. Ether I go with or I'll follow you instead. Now I'm going to help you whether you want me to or not. I'm doing this because I too care about Eda and I care about you. I'm sorry I'm getting tough but I'm helping you, understand?" said Luz sounding firm but compassionate.
"Yes mama Luz." said Maxwell becoming submissive.
"Alright, and you know mama Luz loves you and I'm sorry I had to get tough but I want to look out for you in this." said Luz know looking kind and compassionate. "Sorry you probably had a flashback of your past though."
"I understand. It's alright." said Maxwell.
Luz smiled and planted her soft lips to Maxwell's cheeks as if to show him comfort and love. Maxwell did feel loved from her actions but he felt like he was a little surprised by Luz's determination to help him. He did blush a bit from the kissing but he felt that Luz was trying to let him know she didn't mean to get tough.
"Okay, so what was Owlbert's idea on how to pull off this idea?" asked Luz.
Maxwell was about to say something but he looked towards the entrance of the hallway and saw that Eda was coming and Luz picked up on that which she released her arms and hands from him and Eda was seeing them all in the room.
"Everything alright in here? You crazy kids are not about to throw a crazy party in here?" said Eda slightly joking.
"Oh Eda, you and your jokes. We were just talking about past experiences and Maxie was hoping to get permission to sleep with me in my room. He's feeling a little lonely so he was wondering if he could spend the night with me in my room. I think he needs some bonding time with me." lied Luz.
Eda looked towards Maxwell and Luz and she sensed something was probably up but she was thinking it wasn't anything bad at all.
"Maxie, your feeling alright? I know that sickness was fun for you." said Eda showing some compassion.
"I'm alright, Eda. I just feel like maybe I could use some time to bond with Luz. Could I please spend the night with her in her room?" asked Maxwell playing along.
Eda came over to them and Maxwell felt a little bit of fear returning to him. Eda reached out to place her hand on Maxwell's chest which he blushed and shook a little. Eda smiled and reached up to place her hand underneath his chin.
"Well, as long as you two behave yourselves, than I'm cool with it. But no nudity, and I mean no sleeping in the nude and if you two have to change into a pair of clothes, do that in separate rooms. You don't want to see that." said Eda advising a warning.
"Yes ma'am." said Maxwell blushing.
"I'm gonna take a nap for now." said Eda.
"Need assistance?" asked Maxwell kindly.
Eda chuckled and gently scratched underneath Maxwell's chin while it made him shake in the body from feeling like the gentle scratching underneath his chin made his body feel like every itch in his body was being scratched. Maxwell was letting out a relaxed moan.
"Sweet of you to offer but don't worry. I can crash down here. Well, for now." said Eda kindly.
After the scratching stopped, that's when Maxwell took Eda by the hand and managed to swallow his fear once again.
"Please?" asked Maxwell kindly.
The compassionate expression in his eyes nearly had Eda feel as though she could get cavities from this. She let out a sigh and yawned.
"Alrighty kiddo, but I'm only letting you because I know it's better to land on something soft instead of the hard floor and later on have a dent in my beautiful face." said Eda relenting.
Eda wrapped an arm around Maxwell as he walked her over to the couch and carefully laid her on her side to the comfortable couch, pulling a big and comfortable pillow down for her to lay her head on.
"If anyone needs me, I'll be down here." said Eda with a yawn.
"Understood." said Luz and Maxwell.
Luz, King and Maxwell left the room and before Maxwell left, he looked at Owlbert and gave him a wink. Owlbert winked back at him, showing him the same trust and the same caring nature he shows Luz. Maxwell left the room with Luz and King. As they walked down the hallway, they were wondering how else to make this plan work out.
"How do we make this plan work with Eda in the living room?" whispered Luz.
"I know another way. Follow me." whispered Maxwell.
They walked down the hallway and reached the kitchen, they turned a corner and Maxwell lead them up the stairs that lead up to the rooftop of the tower. They looked down from the tower to the ground. Luz and King were wondering how to get down.
"A bit of a drop from here." said Luz.
"Sure is." said King agreeing with her.
They looked at Maxwell and he looked back at them with a smile. They caught onto what sort of idea he had in mind. He went to offer his hand out to Luz.
"Do you trust me?" said Maxwell.
"Yes." said Luz looking nervous.
"Than carry King in your arms." instructed Maxwell.
Luz obeyed and scooped up King in her arms. Than Maxwell placed his hand around Luz's waist. He would scoop them up into his arms as he was now carrying Luz in his arms, bridal style while King and Luz held onto each other.
"Are we gonna jump?" asked Luz looking nervous.
"Just hang on tight." instructed Maxwell.
Luz and King were both nervous but Maxwell suddenly teleported in a gold puff of smoke. Than he reappeared on the ground and he carefully set Luz down on her feet and she kept carrying King in her arms. They let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry I startled you guys." said Maxwell apologetically.
"Next time, give us a heads up warning." King advised kindly.
"Understood and sorry about the scare." said Maxwell kindly.
"No sweat, big boy." said Luz kindly forgiving him.
Maxwell took the vial from his pocket and took the stopped off it and downed it as it tasted like a passion fruit juice as he downed it completely. He placed the vial in his pocket as his body was tingling all over and he felt like he grew taller but his hair turned brown and his hair formed to became curly looking and his skin color went from Caucasian to looking like he was an African American man who appeared to be looking like he went from a teenager to looking like a forty year old man with his ears forming to look pointy and his body looked a bit more thickly muscular as if he appeared to be a hulking body builder.
"Wow! Your a black guy." said Luz looking surprised.
"I'm black?" said Maxwell shocked.
Maxwell looked at his hands and felt his hair as he sees his hair looking long and curly.
"My hair looks like I got a perm." said Maxwell surprised. "So this is what it's like to be taller."
Maxwell knew they had no time to waste as he lead the way by holding onto Luz's hand. King cleared his throat.
"Maxie, I know where the night market is. Follow where I say we should go." instructed King.
"Understood. If any asks, your my niece and I'm your uncle." Maxwell informed.
They nodded and walked towards the town as Maxwell knew that this is going to be dangerous, risky and if Eda found out, they'd be in for it one way or another. They had one hour before the potion would wear off.
