Eda had forced herself to cut back on apple-blood, not only to save money but she needed a clearer mind to help plot against whatever Belos was doing. She knew that, though Hunter was starting to get a bit more comfortable around them, he was still loyal to Belos. She questioned herself on why she was allowing him to hang around The Owl House in the first place, he was a big threat to everyone's safety after all. But as she watched the kid in silent amusement she couldn't help but feel endeared.
Hunter had put Luz in a headlock after she licked her palm and shoved it into his face, stating it was revenge. The human was struggling hard against the witch, flailing and calling for help from Willow or Amity who watched with amusement.
" What is it, human? Can't handle your just-desserts?" Hunter questioned as he rubbed his fist against Luz's head, making her scream out and kick her legs around more. Hunter kept his hold on her, a smug smirk on his face. It reminded Eda a lot of when her and Lilith were kids, maybe that is why she was allowing him around against her better judgement.
"THIS IS LUZ CALLING FOR BACK UUUUP!" Luz shouted. A moment later a flash of fur appeared and lept onto Hunter, who grunted and stumbled slightly, but kept his hold on Luz as King started batting his face.
"Take that! And That! Weh!" King's claw paws bapped against Hunter's nose roughly, making him scrunch his face up.
" Calling for allies- will not help you-, Luz!" Hunter said between wacks.
"Ok, ok. That is enough." Eda stepped forward, making a shooing motion at the three. Hunter shrugged and let Luz go, letting the girl fall flat onto the floor as he smirked then stood up straight, looking down at King who hung off his shirt before picking him up and holding the demon under his arm. Eda snorted as she watched King wiggle before accepting his fate. " Anyway, I assume you are here for a reason, Blonde, and not just to torment my kids or because I wanted to talk to you."
"Ah...Yes." Hunter flicked his ears before facing Eda fully. " Though I would prefer we talk in private, if that is ok?" He sat King down on top of Luz, who was still in the process of getting back to her feet.
"Alright, that is fine. What I need to talk to you about shouldn't have prying ears either." Eda pulled out a piece of paper from her hair and handed it over to Luz. " Here, kid. Go to the market with your girlfriend, glasses, and itchy boy to get these items." Willow quirked her brow at Eda before looking at Hunter, who shifted slightly before giving her a nod. " Don't worry, glasses, I promise I will not hurt him."
"Alright." Willow gave a giggle and smile before stepping over to Hunter to place a kiss on his cheek. He flicked his ears around as he smiled down to her, "We will be back soon."
"Stay safe, yeah?" Hunter said, turning to return the kiss on her cheek before she giggled again and turned to join the three who were already heading out. King looked back over his shoulder at Eda and Hunter with uncertainty before Hooty closed the door.
"Are you sure we should leave them alone?" King asked, turning to look down at Luz as he perched on her shoulders.
" It will be fine, King, don't worry." Luz said to the demon before smirking at Willow, " Besides, if he did try anything he will have to answer to her." Willow rolled her eyes slightly before looking at the list in Luz's hand, pushing the nervous feeling she had in the back of her mind away.
"So, Miss Clawthorne-" Hunter started before Eda snorted loudly.
" Call me Eda, kid." She went to slouch down onto her couch. " No need to be so formal with me." Eda motioned him to sit. She had noticed that the moment the door closed Hunter's posture changed, his stance straightening and hands folding behind his back in fist like he had probably been trained all his life to do when at 'official coven business'. She didn't care for seeing the teen like that. "Now, go ahead and tell me what's on your mind."
"Uh…" Hunter's stance changed as he glanced at the chair, but didn't move to sit just yet. He reached up to Lil' Rascal on his shoulder, gaining a bit more confidence from the palisman's pressense. " Shouldn't we talk about what you-"
" Come on, Kid. You might be hard to read, but I can tell when someone needs to get something off their chest." Eda raised her brow at Hunter, who seemed a bit taken aback. He moved to scratch at his cheek, Eda noting how whenever he did that he always went for the scarred one.
"R-right uh…" Hunter cleared his throat, about to go back into his official stance before stopping himself to cross his arms over his chest, keeping his eyes on the table in front of him. " I uh...Hope you do not take this as me trying to….intel gather? Uh…" He sighed, fidgeting with a loose string on his sleeve he found, before his hand went back to Rascal. " I honestly thought Willow would be here- uh...nevermind. I…"
" Hey...take your time, Kid." Eda said, finally getting Hunter to look at her before he looked back at the table to think over his words.
"...Your curse. Can...can you tell me about it?" Hunter forced himself to look back up at Eda, who quirked her brow. He really hoped she didn't think this was him gathering information on her, making sure she was still not a threat.
"Hu...I take it the old Belos boy isn't doing so well, then?" Eda sipped from her mug.
"W-wha- How do you-"
"Lilith told me." Eda confirmed, raising her brow in amusement at Hunter. " She was sparse with the details, but I was able to get enough to connect the dots about Belos having a curse of some sort." Hunter blinked a few times, feeling his ears flicking before he looked to the table, a dark shadow appearing over his eyes. "...You want to help him, hu?" Eda leaned forward, setting the mug on the table and looking up at Hunter.
" I-..." Hunter thinned his lips. Did he still want to help him? He didn't know. Belos never accepted the help, he only accepted palisman as a temporary solution. Wait...If he had a curse though, would he have to? Hunter's eyes widened slightly in realization before he forced his face back to a neutral look and looked to Eda. " I...did but...uh…"
" But you don't want to anymore?" Eda had a spark of hope flash through her eyes that was hard to ignore, a small smirk appearing on her lips that she tried to push away. Hunter thinned his lips again and looked back down at the table...She had her own curse, she knew how to help, right? At least, she might be able to tell him if he was cursed as well.
"I...I..." Hunter said, hesitating before he breathed in through his nose and closed his eyes. " I just want to know how you...knew you were cursed." Hunter sighed, rubbing his neck as he opened his eyes to look back to Eda, hoping she wasn't catching on, but knowing she was too smart not to. The woman furrowed her brow before leaning back on the couch.
"Well, the night Lilith cursed me I woke up the morning after with a headache that went away pretty fast." Eda rubbed her chin in thought, " That was really the only sign of anything being wrong before my first transformation happened."
"...Lilith cursed you?!" Hunter felt his face contort in shock. The time he had known Lilith she was always trying her best for Eda, swearing everything she did was to do good by her. He guessed it made sense that she would be the one to place the curse on Eda.
" Oh yeah! I guess that isn't too common of knowledge, hu?" Eda shrugged, giving a smirk up at the boy. " But after a while and with some help I figured out how to better handle it. The gem on my chest used to help with telling me when The Owl Beast would take over, I have my elixirs that help keep the beast calm, and of course now I can turn into a harpy!" Eda smirked, knowing Hunter was not in the belief of her doing so before.
" Oh right...Yeah, by the way, Kikimora was screaming a lot about that." Hunter went to finally sit down, relaxing as he hunched over to rest his elbows on his knees. Lil' Rascal let out a small chirp before going to nuzzle into his neck. " I take it the Coven hasn't bothered you or Amity, though?"
"Not at all, surprisingly!"
"Good...my threats worked then." Hunter muttered. Eda blinked a few times before leaning forward with a smile.
"Threats?" She prodded, watching as Hunter flicked his ears then sat up straight.
"I-I mean uh-" Hunter put his hands up.
"Aww, you do care!" Eda reached over to quickly rub the top of Hunter's head, who growled and batted her hand away. He paused as she retracted, then slowly reached up. Eda's hand had detached in his hair. His eyes grew wide as he grabbed her hand and threw it at her, making the woman laugh loudly.
"WHAT THE HECK?" Hunter leaned back, Lil' Rascal fluttered next to him for a few moments before landing back on his shoulder, the two of them watching the hand in horror and fascination as Eda twisted it back onto her wrist.
"Calm down, kid!" Eda snorted, " Side effect of my curse. Remember I detached my arm to fight you that first time?"
"A-ahh...right." Hunter cleared his throat before leaning back onto his knees again. " A-anyway uh...So your curse was just a sudden thing?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Eda shrugged, " There are times I grow feathers, and other times I can't help but do what the beast wants like building a nest, going after shiny objects, and eating things of its diet. But, ever since we came to terms with each other it's no longer a big fight to see who gets to drive, you know? They bargain sometimes for different things to allow me to transform into my harpy form, but that is about it."
" So...you can kind of...control...it…" Hunter's words dwindled off as his thoughts returned to his uncle. Sometimes he showed perfect control over the curse, like when he made threats with spikes of mud...but, he wouldn't hurt him on purpose, right?
" Now if you are getting at what I think you are…" Eda started, leaning over again to look at Hunter. " Then if you want my help, I want you to tell me what your symptoms are."
"W-what my symptoms are?" Hunter leaned back, thinning his lips as he looked over Eda before sighing. " I-I uh...I was told that my malfunctioning bile-sac caused...coughing fits…"
" Malfunctioning bile-sac?" Eda's brow rose.
"Y-yeah...it's why I don't have magic." Hunter admitted, watching as Eda slowly furrowed her brow.
"Kid...even people with 'malfunctioning' bile-sacs have some magic…" Eda stood, looking around the room before going over to a bookshelf and looking through the books. Hunter felt an annoyed pange rip through him as he narrowed his eyes at her.
"Well, I just don't…" He said, unable to hide his annoyed tone.
"AHA! There it is!" Eda pulled out a tome before turning back to Hunter, opening it and ripping a page out of it. Hunter rose his brow before narrowing his eyes and leaning back slightly. That was a Wild Magic spell she was holding, he knew that much, but had no idea what it would do. " Oh relax kid. This is just a spell that will allow me to check over your bile-sac without having to cut you open or take you to The Healing Coven."
" I don't know if I am comfortable with this…" Hunter thinned his lips as he flattened his ears, looking over the paper in Eda's hand before back to her. Eda put her hand on her hip, smirking at Hunter.
"Kid, do you think I would hurt you knowing that Vines would hang me by the toes?" Eda smiled honestly after. " Look, I know this is...a weird situation. Technically I am doing something illegal, but you are off the clock, need help, and I want to help you." Eda offered out the paper, keeping with the smile. " No one should have to go through the pain of a curse alone." Hunter looked up at her, then down to the paper in thought.
"Trust her." His semiconscious spoke up, feeling a deep pull in his soul as well. Lil' Rascal let out a chirp of encouragement as well, making Hunter sigh before nodding.
"Alright… I-I trust….I trust you." Hunter looked up at Eda who smiled gently down to him. She moved the paper just above his chest, motioning his arms down before activating the spell. After a flash of black, an image started to appear on the paper, showing Hunter's ribcage, lungs, heart...Eda moved the image up as she looked it over, the soft smile on her face slowly disappearing.
"Who told you that your bile-sac was malfunctioning?" Eda asked, her brow furrowing. Hunter felt slight dread in his heart.
"M-my uncle." Hunter hesitated with the reply.
"Hunter…" Eda looked down at him, before slowly showing him the image. "...You don't have a bile-sac."
_AN_
This is HALLOWEEN! Happy October! The count down is now officially underway for the end to Of Balanced Stones! Thank you for reading and please leave a comment! I love you!