Chapter 6 – Warning

1998

"Are you really that impressed about my abs? It's not the first time you see them." Eda teased her while she cleaned her wound before patching it up.

"What? No! I'm just cleaning your scratch so that I can put the gauze on, idiot!" A blush appeared on her face as she took away the piece of wet cotton from the vigilante's skin.

"Really? It took you so long I thought you were enjoying the view too much. I was about to charge you." The blush spread further on her face as she put a small gauze on the wound.

"Well, you're wrong. I was just… thinking…" She finished putting the gauze and sighed, getting up to sit at the couch beside Eda.

"About what? Are you having trouble at your new job?" There was concern on her friend's question and she shook her head slowly, sighing again and looking at the floor.

"It's fine… just a silly thing…" A hand wrapped itself around hers and she turned to look at the woman beside her, her brow furrowed in concern.

"It's not silly if it's bothering you. You know you can tell me anything, right? I'm willing to help you with whatever it is." Her look fell to the floor again as her heart beat faster in nervousness.

"I know, but it's the truth; I was just thinking about a silly thing." She said, unable to tell her friend that she had been thinking about her in a not so friendly way lately and that confused her a lot since she had always been taught differently. Catholicism was not really an open religion filled with understanding and will to accept new things.

"Okay. I'll be here whenever you want to tell me about it." The redhead got closer to her and wrapped her in a hug, making her heart beat even faster.

"Thank you." She turned to look at her with a tender look, finding her friend's face closer than she had expected and blushing at the proximity, an action imitated by Eda.

"Cami…" The taller girl looked at her tenderly too, her blush making her face shine under the light of the living room, making her look even more beautiful.

"Eda…" Slowly, both of them started to get closer and, quicker than she thought, their noses were touching each other as they looked at their eyes.

Her conscience was telling her to back off and get out of the apartment before she did something her parents would certainly disapprove of but, unconsciously, she stayed put, as if she didn't really care about everything they had taught her and told her. Her heart knew what she wanted, what she had wanted for so long. It couldn't wait anymore.

Suddenly, a pair of lips were touching hers and that was the last time she felt completely conscious. Everything after that, was her body acting on its own. Yet, she didn't dare stop it, knowing that it was what she really wanted to do.

2021

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" Viney asked as soon as she heard the wind chime at the entrance of the clinic, signaling a new client. She was putting some things into stands and turned around quickly to look at the girl that had come in.

"I need your help, Viney." She frowned in confusion at her words. A girl she had never met was asking for her help and already knew her name. It was weird.

"Sure… did another client send you? I'm sorry, but I'm terrible at remembering faces and I just can't remember you." The girl got closer to her and she tried to recognize her, but she couldn't.

"Maybe it's because we're not wearing our masks." Her eyes opened as plates at the girl's words, understanding what she meant and remembering her voice instantly.

Before she said anything back, she went to the entrance and locked the door, putting the "closed" sign on it and then turning around to look at the Latina again, approaching her quickly.

"How did you find me? Not even we, with magic, would be able to find out you are the owl lady. Why did you come here?" She asked almost in a whisper even though she knew they were alone since she was the only one working on her veterinary clinic and pet store.

"I was watching at the docks while the police filed the evidence, trying to hear something that could give me a lead on Raventhorn. From the distance I could see you getting there, although you weren't riding your Griffin. I didn't really know it was you until we met at that rooftop." The girl spoke while her face still conveyed the same worry it had when she entered the store.

"How the hell did you find out my name? Even if you saw my face then, it would have been impossible."

"I saw you hugging and kissing detective Emira Blight, who is one of the officers in charge of the investigation. It wasn't hard to learn your name since the detective can't stop bragging about her beautiful girlfriend." Hearing that made her blush a little, but she said nothing. "After that, it wasn't hard to find you. There are not a lot of people called Viney in the city." She nodded in understanding, a little frustrated at the fact that someone had uncovered her identity, but she figured they were even since now she could learn the owl lady's identity as well.

"You said you need my help. How?" At her question, the girl took a deep breath and then answered.

"Raventhorn kidnapped someone I care about. I need your help finding her before…" The girl paused without finishing but yet, she could understand what she meant.

"I get it. I'll help you, but you have to give me your name. I'm not going to be the only one whose secret identity is in the open now." She said with a smile, not wanting to sound imposing giving the state the other girl seemed to be in and the Latina nodded at her words.

"I'm Luz Noceda." After hearing her name, Viney extended her hand for the girl to shake it.

"It's a pleasure, Luz." The Latina shook her hand briefly. "Now, let me call my friends quickly. Barkus is especially good at locating people."

2015

"Are you sure you want to do this? What if it kills the girl?" Lilith asked her, both of them were sitting at a restaurant eating dinner.

"It won't kill her, you're just being overdramatic." She took a bite from her food as she heard her sister sighing.

"If you perform the ritual on the human and it, by some crazy chance, ends up working, you won't be able to do it again, you know? So, if you have a child one day, they wouldn't be able to have magic. But that's the least of you worries. No one has attempted a ritual on a human. You're wasting time and effort and you don't know the dangers it could carry." The cop spoke, incapable of understanding her actions.

"I'm just doing it to prolong her training, Lily. I know it won't work, but I don't want her to go out before she's ready. With this, I have a reason to tell her not to go and get herself killed."

2021

"Kind of…" The Emperor walked away from Camilia, watching Eda crying with her head down. "Maybe 'father' is not the right word since she's also a woman, but you understand the meaning behind it."

"Eda… is that… true?" The nurse asked in shock, her eyes starting to fill with tears again.

"It is, my dear. I have confirmed it myself. You see, I have many resources. My network is vast. I am not lying to you." The man sat at his chair again, willing to just watch what was about to happen between the two women.

"I…" The white haired woman sobbed, trying to control her cries. "I didn't think… I love you Cami… I always have and you know it. That night I made a mistake. I wanted to make sure you stayed with me instead of going back to that man that dumped you every month to bang another girl. He didn't deserve you… and neither do I… But I wanted to… I wanted to become a woman worth of you… it was too late to change things…" She raised her head to look at the Latina in front of her, watching her crying silently on her place. "I wasn't sure either. The timing was… it could really have been his child if my spell didn't work. But then I went back to read the book where the spell was and I saw that, if the spell hadn't worked, both of us would have been sick for a week after I casted it, and it didn't happen."

"How could you?" Camilia spoke, her voice breaking at every word. Anger between the hurt they conveyed.

"Now, don't be mad, my child. Love makes people do awful things. The most atrocious deeds a person makes are made out of it." The Emperor stood up and walked towards Eda. "She just wanted what she couldn't have. The ruin of many."

"Do you expect me to tell you what you want after this? You're insane!" She screamed at him, anger running through her veins again, even worse than before.

"Not yet. I have some other secrets that I would gladly share with you both. After all, my investigation on you was very fruitful." Both woman looked at each other in a mix of worry and surprise. "Maybe I should include little Luz into this. After all, it's not a secret for any of us that she is actually the one in the costume now. She could learn a thing or two about when not to mess with people." He walked towards the Latina and caressed her cheek again.

"Leave my daughter out of this!" The nurse's scream startled her, but the Emperor didn't flinch.

"It warms my heart to see how much you love that little mistake. But don't worry, I've already said enough today. You will carry my message to her so that she stops being a nuisance." He stood in front of her and looked her in the eye. "While we were talking I put a spell on you in order to read your mind. It took some time, but now I know you don't have a way of going to the demon realm safely, you're just taking care of a couple of stray demons. I shall punish the one who gave me that false information, but still, as you saw, this meeting was a success." He walked between the two women and stopped there. "Now then, it was a pleasure meeting you both. Yet, I hope we don't have to see each other again." And with that, he disappeared, leaving them both there alone.

"It usually takes him a couple of hours to find the person in question, but while he's doing that, I thought we could go out and try to get some information." As soon as Viney told her that, Luz felt distressed and more worried. She could understand why it would take him so much time, given how big the city was, yet, she didn't know if they really had the time.

"Ok. Maybe you can call the detective and ask her to question the men they captured. I could also get in touch with my contact on the BIPD again to see if she's able to help us." As soon as she finished speaking, the dog witch barked a few times.

"That's a good idea, but first, Barkus said he needs to know a couple things about the person we're looking for." She nodded and then took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. While she did so, she could see the other girl taking out her phone, probably to call her girlfriend as she had suggested.

"So, what do you need to know?" She sat beside Barkus. In front of them, a table with a crystal ball in the middle of a pentagram and incense burning beside it. He barked twice and she just looked at him with confusion, and then at the other man close to them who chuckled and then translated.

"Sorry, I forgot you're not a witch. He said he needs to know when the person was taken and where." At his words, she nodded and tried to remember everything King told her a few hours ago.

"Raventhorn took her last night, around midnight. She was taken from her apartment on Bonesborough Street." The dog nodded and then moved its paws in front of the crystal ball. He then barked again.

"Now he needs to know her full name." The man translated again for her.

"Her name's Edalyn Clawthorne." Barkus moved its paws again and then barked.

"Just her?" At Jerbo's words, she nodded and then the dog barked again. "Cool. He says that should be enough." Viney put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at her.

"I called Emira. She said the entire department is on the move right now. They got some information on a really big shipment Raventhorn is bringing by plane today. Right now there are only a few cops on the precinct so, she won't be able to get any information from those men." She sighed loudly at that, feeling even more stressed.

"That's okay. We can go out as you suggested. I'll just call my contact to see if I can get lucky." The brunette nodded and patted her back sympathetically as she stood up and took out the burner phone she could use to call officer Willow.

For a couple of seconds, she thought about what to say to make the officer want to help her, but she figured that a kidnapped woman would be a pretty easy way of explaining things and accomplish that so, without waiting another second, she dialed the number.

"Hello?" The voice on the phone came in a whisper.

"Officer Willow, are you on the precinct?" She answered without even trying to change her voice.

"Owl lady. I didn't think you would contact me so soon. Yes, I am in the station, why?" At the officer's answer, she took a deep breath, feeling relief and a little bit of hope.

"Raventhorn kidnapped a woman last night. I need to know if the men on your custody know where she might have taken her." There were a few seconds of silence, making her feel nervous and anxious.

"Look, I'm not allowed to interrogate them. Especially now when the captain is not here. I could get in a lot of trouble for that." Willow spoke with worry and, even though she could understand why, she felt a little bit of anger.

"An innocent woman might die, officer. She was kidnapped last night. Every second you waste being afraid is a very valuable second." She tried to sound commanding, trying to convince her.

"I know. I didn't say I won't do it. I will, but I can't just go and do it right now. I need a few minutes. If I do this wrong and get in trouble, their lawyers won't hesitate in finding a way to use that to set them free. I will call you back once I'm done with it." The officer spoke with determination, making her smile. She had made the right choice by choosing Willow as her contact.

"Thank you. I will also go out to get some information. In case I get it, I will call you too. I might need some backup."

"Don't hold your breath on that. I might be the only backup you get today. Everyone else has been sent to find some drugs."

"I'm aware. You will be enough, I can tell you're strong."

"Ok. I'll call you back in a few minutes, then." And with that, Willow hung up.

"According to the numbers we have given you, we will split into four squads. My squad will cover all the planes that come from door one to five. Detective Emira's squad will cover the planes from door six to ten. Detective Edric's squad will take door eleven to fifteen and, lastly, detective Amity's will cover from door sixteen to twenty." Lilith spoke with a stern tone to all the officers in front of her, waiting outside of the airport to start the operation. "I want two dogs on each team checking the luggage as soon as it comes out of the planes. We can't make assumptions today. If someone makes a mistake, the last thing I want to hear from them is: 'I thought'. Don't think; act. The plane is not supposed to arrive until six, according to our informant, but we will be checking all planes starting now, just in case. Understood?" The cops responded affirmatively in unison. "Good. You know what to do. Get in and don't cause panic. If any civilian asks, answer clearly. We don't want misunderstandings either, okay?" Everyone answered again and then started to move to their respective squads, ready to start the operation.

"They don't know anything. Maybe going out blindly was not a really good idea. We don't even know where to find Raventhorn's people." Viney told her as they walked out of a warehouse where they had beaten some thugs in order to get information.

"Maybe you're right, but we can't stop. We might get lucky. We need to keep going, at least until Werewolf contacts you with information." She said as they both jumped to get up on the griffin to get to the next place. A ring from the burner phone startled her just as soon as the creature started to fly. "Officer, did you get something?" She said quickly as she answered the phone, making the other vigilante look at her from the corner of her eye.

"Yes. One of them told me Raventhorn has a building in the city in which she pays them after a job. I looked it up and it says that the building is supposed to be demolished tomorrow morning so, it might be true. I'll text you the location right now." Her heart jumped on her chest when she heard that, feeling happiness again for the first time that day.

"Thank you, officer. I'll call you as soon as we're done there so that you can take the bad guys to prison."

"Good. I'll check on Raventhorn's old files to see if I can find anything else." And with that, she hung up.

"You got something?" The brunette asked her.

"The officer found a building that she thinks is owned by Raventhorn. We should go back to your hideout to get your friends and then go there quickly." Viney nodded and patted his griffin to make him change directions.

And as they flew through the city, she could feel her anxiousness grow even more, along with anger. If Eda was not okay, she was going to wreak havoc there.

Hey! I'm back early and there's a reason for it: This sunday, I'm moving out of my place to a whole diferent city so, I won't be able to post a chapter next week (at least until sunday 8th), which is why I'm posting this one now and I'll try to post another one either this friday or on saturday.

But whatever, let's get to the notes:

1) So, it was after I wrote this chapter that I realized something that could make it a little bit hard to follow the story; the dates. As you have seen, I only write during which year the events are happening yet, I never write the months so, there's no way of knowing if something happened before or after another event until you end reading that section. This chapter was the first one in which I noticed that might be kind of weird but, on the next chapters, I think it would be the same. It's not really a huge problem. As I said, you know when something happened exactly once you read the whole section yet, I hope it doesn't get hard to follow as the story keeps going.

2) Lilith knows about Luz being the owl lady, as you could read. I'm not going to lie to you, Lilith's character in this story will be the most complex one but, it will take us a while to get there (if my calculations are correct, we'll start learning more about her on chapter 9 or so). Even after we start learning more about her, it will take a while to fully explain the way she thinks and why she acts the way she does some times so, don't get desperate, we will be seeing Lilith a lot more.

3) And the most important point: Magic. As you could see in this chapter and even in previous ones, there are some spells that are quite literally, overpowered. This matter will be even more evitent during the next chapter, which is why I want to address this point now. Basically, all spells (even the most common or easiest) will have limits. I mean, for example: I already said that the teleportation spell exists and it sounds broken yet, as you read before, it can only be used under certain conditions and depends entirely on the witch's strenght. The strongest the witch, the strongest the spell.

I'm just getting this out there because the mind reading spell seems extremely overpowered but, later on, I'll explan its limitations and the way it works in depth, which is something I'm planning on doing with every spell that might seem almost undefeatable.

But anyway. That was chapter 6.

Thank you for your support and remember to follow me on twitter at gloomy_atumn to see the cover I made for each chapter and other things I post!

See you this friday (or saturday)!