"We now return to, Cleanse and Reform with Warden Envy."
On the screen, was someone who looked like Warden Wrath but was only green, a little skinnier and looking more positively upbeat sitting on their desk.
"Hi, I'm Warden Envy. For those who don't know, I am the Warden of the Cleanatorium which is definitely not a rip off of the Conformatorium as my brother likes to think." Warden Envy said. "When I was born, I was more like the runt of the litter of the family. While my 3 brothers and 3 sisters were born with muscles, I was not. But, I wasn't outcasted by my family. They supported me and I did well in school. Heck, I was one of the few people to get in good with Odalia Blight, the most popular mean girl. Unlike most students who wanted to be a member of the Emperor's Coven, I wanted to be a warden. I had many ups and downs since people just thought I didn't look wrathful or stern enough to run a prison, but I proved them wrong by using my ultimate trait, psychological torture. And for the last 9 years, I have been running the most intimidating prison on the Boiling Isles, made specifically for the worst witches. And I'm glad my family supports me, besides Wrath who didn't like how intelligent I was. I mean, he has an obsession with some hot lady who looks someone who could be someone's grandma, if you ask me."
The people who were watching the show on the crystal ball, were Grime and King, whom were sitting on a boat that Eda was rowing.
Eda rolled her eyes at being compared to an old lady. "Yeah, at least I don't look like a fist with teeth."
"Yeah, at you're related to someone who I actually like." King retorted.
"And at least you're…..you're….you're….you're…..I….does she play the instrument well?" Grime asked.
"Well, I can play a lute." Eda replied. "But I don't know about her."
"Hey, look how well I can play the ukulele!" Warden Envy announced while playing the flute. "Oh, my second career choice would have been Bard Coven. But speaking of Bard Coven, let me introduce you to the only prisoner we have here since a lot of people seem to either evade capture or end up at the Conformatorium."
"Eda, I think we're about to get some info." King announced.
"Okay Grime, take over." Eda requested.
"Hold on, I'm into this show now." Grime said. "Let King do it."
"Do my arms look big enough?" King asked.
"Well paddle with your little paws then." Grime suggested.
King gave Grime a deadpan expression. "My hands would melt."
"It's just water!" Grime retorted.
"It's Boiling Water!" Eda exclaims. "It burns worse than the boiling rains. Now shut up and think fast." Eda snatches the orb and hands Grime the oars. Grime narrowed his eyes at Eda while King laughed at him.
While Grime reluctantly paddled the oars, Eda was paying really close attention to the orb. In the documentary, Warden Envy lead the camera person to a witch with a moustache whom was drinking a cup of coffee that had a bat symbol.
"This is Captain Ron, he's guarding the cell to Raine Whispers since they are quite dangerous."Warden Envy explained. "Come on Ron, say something funny."
"I am here against my will."Captain Ron's comment made Warden Envy laugh like crazy.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ah! Good one Captain Ron." Warden Envy commented. "Always talking about how much they hate monarchies. Okay, let me into their cell."
Captain Ron nodded his head and opened the door for Warden Envy and to Raine's cell. Raine was chained to their waist, wrists, legs and even their neck so they wouldn't try anything funny to escape. They narrowed their eyes at Warden Envy and the camera person.
"Good afternoon Raine, how is my wonderful prisoner today?" Envy asked rather enthusiastically.
"Stiff."
Raine's response made Warden Envy laugh. "Oh Raine, despite all the torture I have given you, you somehow have a sense of humour."
Raine rolled their eyes. "Listen Envy, whatever you do, I have no information to give to you. I don't know where Eda is."
"Oh please, do I look like my brother?" Warden Envy asked.
"You have his ugly face."
Raine's retort made Eda chuckle. "Wow, they can be quite feisty when I'm not around. Or a huge crowd. Somehow they're fine when they're on camera this time."
"Wow, I thought you hate cameras." Warden Envy remarked.
"I do, but I want people to see how stupid you look." Raine retorted.
Warden Envy was tempted to slap Raine, but she pulled herself back and smiled. "June, things are gonna get interesting. Make sure the camera is on Raine."
"What are you doing?" Raine asked.
"Just getting my scroll out." Warden Envy pulled out her scroll and showed Raine a video on Penstagram. But what was the video of? It was the so-called date between Eda and Wrath.
"Eda's dating Wrath?" Raine asked.
Eda froze at what was going on and shook her head repeatedly. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Raine, it's not like that!"
"I don't think they can hear you." Grime said.
"Well, at least she's moved on."Raine said, even though there was a hint of sadness on their face.
"Oh yeah, she has." Envy replied. "And it is really evident right…." The Warden pressed play.
"Ha, oh where do I start? Firstly, they're sensitive about everything. Can't even take a joke most of the time. Also, the whole Bard Coven thing is just a stupid idea. I mean, musical instruments are musical instruments, they don't need to be weaponised. And also….They don't even know personal space as they try everything to help me even though I assured them I was fine."
Raine looked shocked that their own ex girlfriend would think of them that way. She surely didn't mean it. I mean, sure they used to date and they did the dumping, but they felt guilty about it for many years and was so sure that Eda didn't hold any kind of grudge against them. But, judging by the video, she did.
"I'd show you the whole video, but this is good enough." Warden Envy said as she out her scroll away. "How do you feel Raine?"
Raine said nothing, something that made Warden Envy frown with disappointment. She expected tears and maybe some words, but not silence.
"They're saying nothing."
"I know that June! And I'm angry! Uh, come on! Say something negative about Eda! Come on! Just say how much my brother sucks that he's dating possibly, the only person you feel more confident around! Or better, say how much my brother sucks!"
But Raine said nothing and glanced their eyes away from Envy, something that made Envy angry.
"Do you have something to say to Eda?"June asked.
"Actually, I do." Envy walked up to the camera. "Alright Edalyn Clawthorne, listen to me, you're not getting Raine Whispers! My guards will find you if you sneak on to the Cleanatorium. If you get into the Cleanatorium, I will put you in the same cell as Raine just to hurt you even more." Envy laughed. "And if anybody is willing, well here's another bounty out for Eda. I will pay you handsomely and maybe, make you feel a bit welcome in my prison. And be awarded the highest honour as my special guest."
Eda turned off the orb and sighed sadly. "Well, it's out again."
"Did you really say that about your ex?" Grime asked with a grin. "I mean, wow! You must really hate them."
"I don't!" Eda exclaimed. "I don't hate them!"
"Oh yeah, it would explain why you're rescuing them." Grime said. "I mean, you'd have to be desperate for selfish reasons to rescue your ex lover."
"I am desperate." Eda replied. "Without them, we won't be able to defeat Belos."
"So what's the plan Eda?" King asked. "Are we going to go in magic blazing?"
"Actually, I haven't thought of a plan." Eda replied. "I was honestly, thinking of ways to break Raine out but so far, nothing. I mean, when it comes to the Conformatorium I can go in there in and out, but I've never broken in or out of the Cleanatorium so….."
"…..so, we have no plan?" Grime asked.
"Unfortunately, I don't." Eda replied. "But that bounty thing might be my way in."
"But should we be worried about bounty hunters?" Grime queried.
"Honestly, no bounty hunter went after me." Eda replied. "I mean, I wonder what makes them ignore it?"
Meanwhile in one of the houses, a spiky haired slender witch with a blue and yellow robe with black pants, was drinking egg with what appeared to be a dab of brown pepper on top of the yolk.
A tall witch with a wooden arm, a black beard and a bald head, wearing some kind of armour, walked in on his friend.
"Spieg, Eda's back on the table." The tall muscular witch informed his friend. "Should we go after her?"
The witch started thinking before drinking his drink. "Nah, we'll get her later Blet. I have a bad headache."
Meanwhile at the Cleanatorium, Captain Ron was sitting on his desk playing what appeared to be some kind of Rubik cube but made out of eyes, ears, nose and mouths. He then started hearing his Palisman, which happened to be what looked a Welsh Corgi, bark.
"Nie, stop that." Captain Ron's demand went unheard and the dog continued barking. "Nie! What are you barking at?!" Ron walked up to his dog and saw that there was a boat approaching with what appeared to be a tied up Eda and a giant toad rowing. "Well, good job Nie." Ron then pulled out his scroll and called his boss. "Envy, our esteemed visitor is here."
On the other end, Envy was having a bubble bath and was frozen. "What?! Towel! June! Give me my towel!"
Later, Grime managed to dock up with the tied up Eda at his side and forced her out of the boat while carrying a bird cage in one of his hands.
"Move it!" Grime shoved Eda to the ground.
Eda looked unimpressed. "Okay, you didn't need to do it that hard."
"Do you want me to make it less convincing?" Grime asked as he pulled her up and pushed her again.
"Good point." Eda replied as she continued to walk with Grime pushing her.
They made it to the entrance where they saw Warden Envy and Captain Ron standing with a few of their guards. Warden Envy still being in her towel.
"Wow, it really is the Owl Lady." Warden Envy smiled. "How did you capture her?"
"My owl traps." Grime replied. "Call me Grime, Warden Envy."
"Is Grime short for something?" Warden Envy asked. "Or is it a name your parents gave you because they hated you?"
"It's short for Grimothy." Grime replied.
"That's it?" Asked the disappointed Warden Envy. "I expected it to be longer."
"So did the others." Grime then coughed. "Anyway, your prisoner and I got this little creature as a bonus." Grime lifted the blanket off the birdcage to reveal King, sleeping.
Once sunlight hit him, King started panicking and did a little dance before Grime put it back down, making King sleep again.
"Oh, you'd definitely want to keep this one as a pet." Grime said.
"Aww! I love pets." Warden Envy then approached Eda and smiled. "Wow, I can see why my brother likes you. For someone who looks like the right age to be my mom, you are rather foxy."
"And you…..are related to Wrath?!" Eda laughed. "I don't see the family resemblance. I guess buff siblings were in 'thin' supply." Eda laughed with Grime laughing along.
Warden Envy grumbled. "Well….You…..you are….you are….you…."
"The master of destroying people's chances of giving a comeback." Eda interjected.
"Enough!" Warden Envy turned around. "Barry, Dom, take the Owl Lady to the prison while I give our new guest some kind of reward."
Eda then noticed that one of the corners of Envy's towel was on the ground and stepped on it. When the warden walked forward, the towel fell causing June and the soldiers to laugh while Ron was just silent.
Envy turned around where Eda moved the towel aside while surpassing a huge laughter. But Grime was laughing like crazy while King was still sleeping.
Captain Ron approached his boss, took off his cape and handed it to Envy who wrapped it on the front while Ron used his body to shield her back from further humiliation.
"Alright, take her to her cell! And Ron!"
"Yes?"
"Please keep guarding my back. I want my dignity to remain intact."
Meanwhile, Raine was passing the time by whistling a tune to pass the time just to make sure they didn't die of boredom. The whistle in question, sounded like the theme to a show about witches.
Then, the cell door opened and Eda was thrown in with them, something that made Raine wide eyed with shock.
"Eda?!" Raine exclaimed.
Eda smiled. "Raine! Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"
"Oh….I didn't know." Raine tried to look away but could only just glance instead due to their neck being rather stiff.
Eda sighed. "Look, I know you saw the video but that's not how the full conversation went."
Raine didn't say anything as they glanced away from their ex girlfriend.
"Look Raine, I was only doing this because….." Eda knew Wrath wouldn't tell Envy in an attempt to make his image look good. Sure Wrath was loyal to the Emperor, but he was really unprofessional when it came to his sister. "…..because I felt like standing Wrath up."
But once again, Raine wasn't saying anything as they glanced away.
"Oh, I see what's going on, silent treatment?!" Eda laughed. "Come on Raine, what's the silent treatment going to do to me? I said I was sorry."
But once again, Raine wasn't saying anything.
"Besides, I'm just going to keep pestering you by talking." Eda said as she approached Raine. "But since you're stuck in this position because those guys up there overdid it, it means I can pester you all I want." Eda then started to poke Raine on the cheek repeatedly, something that Raine tried to tolerate but was already going to get annoyed. "Come on Raine, just talk to me."
After about 9 seconds, Eda just stopped and slumped on the wet floor. "Okay, since you're giving the silent treatment, I'll do the same thing until you're ready to talk to me like an adult."
And so, Eda and Raine just stared at each other in complete silent in an attempt to give one another the silent treatment until one of them finally snaps and talks.
Meanwhile, Grime was feasting on some kind of cooked bird that Warden Envy had prepared. Grime was eating it like he hadn't eaten for days and was eating like a savage beast.
While Warden Envy was eating like a more sophisticated person and was looking uncomfortable at Grime's eating habits.
"I'd eat more sophisticated, but I haven't eaten anything good in days since there was a war that was rather….personal." Grime replied.
"Well…..that sucks." Envy commented. "But might I suggest you eat a bit slower before you choke."
"What?!" Grime asked as he wiped his face with the napkin.
"Never mind." Warden Envy then lifted the blanket off of the birdcage to awaken King, who made his little noise and started panicking before putting it back down. The warden laughed before going back to her meal. "Aww, I'm never gonna get tired of this. Listen Grimesy, can I call you Grimesy?"
"No because a friend of mine already calls me that." Grime replied.
"Oh. Is there anything I can get you?" Warden Envy asked.
"Well, I wanna go to the evidence locker to see what kind of treasures are in store." Grime replied.
"Well….I don't know if a violin will be as much as a treasure." Warden Envy replied.
"Nonsense, I play a magnificent harp." Grime responded intensely. "I once won a talent show with a suite that lasted for three hours!"
"Well, there are more interesting treasures in the vault so…..You can look in there if you want." Envy said.
Grime started ponder to himself about the suggestion. For one, if he went into the vault he could retrieve the violin and get this over with. But, he realised that Warden Envy would find it suspicious that he'd refuse some treasure from her vault.
"Hmm, of course." Grime replied. "About the treasure vault. The evidence locker will come later."
"Splendid!" Warden Envy exclaimed happily. "I'll get the key, you wait right here."
Grime then sighed to himself once Envy was out of the picture. "Don't worry Eda, just give me more time." Grime whispered. "I just hope you'll be patient."
Meanwhile in the prison cell, Raine and Eda were still giving each other the silent treatment and had been for the last four minutes. Eda was tempted to talk to her former lover but didn't know the right words to say after possibly screwing up her chances of possibly renewing their partnership. Not a romantic one, just a partnership.
But Raine themselves, couldn't stand being silent and sighed. "Okay, I can't take this silence anymore!"
"Ha! I knew I'd break you." Eda smiled. "So, you ready to talk about the Warden Wrath thing?"
Raine sighed. "Eda, why did you come here to hand yourself in? I mean, it's not like you. Are you here to rescue me? Because if so, then why aren't you turning into the owl beast?"
"Please….got it covered." Eda then reached into her hair and pulled out a bottle of her elixir and drank it. "Good thing I placed a mouse trap into my hair. Or otherwise they would have found them. Or worst, that bottle of apple blood I snuck in for some kind of celebration."
"Celebration?!" Raine exclaimed. "What would you be celebrating?!"
"Nothing to celebrate actually." Eda replied. "Stuck in prison with my ex because some bounty hunter took me in."
"Spieg?"
"Nah, a walking toad named Grime."
Raine laughed. "I forgot you were awesome at coming up with nicknames."
"Yeah, you know me." Eda replied.
"Eda, you never told me that years after our breakup that you have a family." Raine mentioned. "Who are they?"
"Well, they're both adopted in a way." Eda replied. "The dog is named King. I accidentally kidnapped him assuming he was just a lost puppy. And that girl is Luz the human."
"And you captured that one as well?" Raine asked.
"I swear I didn't but I might need to convince her biological mother that." Eda replied. "She came to the realm accidentally when Owlbert stole her book and after an adventure where I rejected Warden Wrath…." Raine gave her a glare. "….I swear I did not intend to hurt you. Anyway, I agreed to teach her magic. And in that time, I helped her get into Hexside, she got a wanted poster, she made friends, got a girlfriend, helped King get his horn back, inadvertently helped repair my relationship with Lilith who I found out cursed me…"
"What?!" Raine exclaimed. "Lilith cursed you?!"
"Yeah, we share the curse now." Eda explained. "Since she felt bad. I'm still doing my best to try and forgive her and everything. Anyway, I'll tell you more about that later. Luz, really helped a lot of people. She helped someone named Willow and even helped Amity, the daughter of Odalia of all people to be a better person. And funny enough, she became her girlfriend. I don't know what I'd do without her. She has done so much for us, me especially. But somehow, I feel like she's shutting me off quite a bit ever since she briefly went back to the human realm to see her mom. I feel like she's hurting but she won't talk to me about it, not even her girlfriend. It upsets me that I'm trying to help her, yet she refuses it."
Raine gave their ex a narrow stare. "Does that remind you of anyone?"
"Wow Rainestorm, really cold." Eda retorted before walking to the bars to think about what Raine said.
Raine realised what they said and tried explain themselves. "Eda, I didn't mean…."
"Raine, just stop." Eda interjected as she looked out the window. "Look, you said what you said. Let me just….." Eda had nothing and just continued to look out the cell bars. In a way, Raine was right.
The reason why Eda and Raine's relationship fell apart was because she refused help from Raine even though they did everything they could to help her. That was the reason why they broke up with her. All the dishonesty made them feel disconnected to her which lead to her to inadvertently hurt them even though she was trying to protect them. Could Luz be doing the same thing?
Meanwhile, Warden Envy lead Grime to the vault of many treasures which was a giant wooden circle with a door knob in the centre.
"I mean, the violin was good enough but you didn't need to take me to the vault." Grime said.
"Nonsense Grime, I had to give you something more than a violin." Warden Envy assured him.
"How good can these treasures be?" Grime asked before Warden Envy opened the vault to reveal treasures that made Grime drool ferociously. "Oh…..My….Frog." There were a lot of gold coins, diamonds, diamond thrones, golden thrones, diamond golden thrones, staffs, swords, diamond swords and many more excessive treasures.
"Yeah! Amazing!"
"So….Are you gonna leave me alone so me and my treasures can be left alone in piece?" Grime asked.
"Take all the time you need, Grime." Warden Envy replied. "Which should possibly be…Oh, 9 hours! Or more! Maybe 9 weeks! Okay Grime, I'll be back byeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Once Warden Envy was out of sight and earshot, Grime's greedy smile disappeared as he started to remember his mission. "Okay Grime, retrieve the violin. That's the mission. But….It wouldn't hurt to take a coin or a maybe a necklace or maybe a diamond! Oh forget it! I'm pretty sure Eda can wait!" Grime then dived into the vault to see what treasures he could find before retrieving the violin.
Back in the prison cell, Eda was still staring out the cell bars at the boiling seas while Raine was whistling to Eda's Requiem to pass the time. Eda tolerated the noise for about two hours, which was the same amount of time Grime was taking to retrieve the violin.
"Will you stop that?!" Eda exclaimed. "It's nice and all but it got annoying!"
"Sorry." Raine responded as they stopped. "Listen Eda, I'm sorry about what I said earlier."
"Raine, it's fine." Eda assured them.
"I don't think it is." Raine responded. "Although, it was kind of earned after hearing what you said about me."
"Look Raine, I never meant it." Eda assured them.
"How do I know you don't?" Raine asked. "Your lies costed our relationship and now I know you're here for reasons you think I don't. Because I know that Edalyn Clawthorne wouldn't let some bounty hunter capture you."
"Listen Raine, I never meant it." Eda assured them. "I went on that date as a distraction while King did the real work."
Raine sighed. "What real work? Getting Warden Wrath's phone number. Look Eda, I appreciate you wanted to start dating again. But you can do better than Wrath."
"It's not….Like that!" Eda yelled. "I don't even like that guy! I think he's too needy and too…Uh…..Not my type!"
"Why did you say that stuff about me if that's the case?!" Raine exclaimed.
"I just had to make it convincing while King and Grime rescued-" Eda put her hand on her mouth, realising she said too much.
"Grime?!" Raine shook their head. "Who's Grime?!"
"The guy who took her in." Captain Ron's response made Eda flinch since she didn't know he was there.
"How long have you been standing there?" Eda asked.
"I've been here this whole time." Captain Ron replied. "And I do not care about what's going on between you two. But I am disappointed that you did not offer me any of your delicious apple blood."
"Sorry." Eda responded.
"It's fine." Captain Ron assured her. "If you get out, throw me the bottle."
"Listen Raine, I only went on that fake date with Wrath to keep….Ron, would you mind if I tell Raine the truth?" Eda asked.
"I do not care since I hate my job." Captain Ron replied. "But I am loyal to Warden Envy and I am a guard that will accept a little bit of blackmail."
Eda then pulled out the bottle of apple blood out of her hair and tried to shove it through the bars. "How about you just get yourself a glass?" Eda asked.
Ron then reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass cup. "Pour it full."
Eda poured her favourite beverage into Ron's cup, pouring it to the point where it got to Ron's intended measurement.
Once Eda had done Ron's request, she turned to her ex lover. "Look, that date was a distraction so Grime and King could break out you and your allies."
"So the guy who turned you in is your partner in crime?" Raine then smiled. "I knew you were faking it."
"That's when we realised, you weren't there." Eda replied. "You were at the Cleanatorium. I had Grime turn me in due to the reward Envy has on me. You see, Grime is going to get your violin so you could use it to your advantage but….Well, you can't use your arms so in hindsight it was stupid."
"No kidding." Raine retorted.
"Luckily, King is here and he can blow things up with his scream." Eda said. "I just hope Warden Envy doesn't know it."
"Well, in hindsight it seemed like a good plan." Raine remarked. "Actually, it is a good plan. I just hope it works."
"I'm rooting for you." Captain Ron said.
"Thanks Ron." Eda said while clicking and winking at him.
"So how long will this Grime be?" Raine asked.
"I don't know, but he's taking his sweet time." Eda replied. "Maybe the warden has him in her grasp."
Back in the vault, Grime was sitting on a throne while drinking gold coins from a diamond chalice. "Everything is in my grasp!" Grime squealed like an excitable teenager before diving into the coins, but smashing his face because in reality, you can't exactly dive into gold so don't even try.
But a bruised face wasn't going to stop Grime from having his fun so he got back up and started picking up gold coins and putting down necklaces. He then ran towards a golden harp and continued to be giddy about it. "Oh my goodness! This looks amazing! But not as good as the harp back at home. Oh and hey, a golden violin I can….." It was at this point, Grime realised that he had an important mission. He was meant to retrieve Raine's violin. "Oh for frog sake!"
Grime quickly ran out of the vault, pass the dinner table; accidentally knocking King's cage in the process.
He ran out of the room where he met one of the guards playing guitar to themselves. The toad ran up to the guard who raised his hands to stop him.
"Oh hey, Grim, I have a band tonight and I want your opinion…."
"My name is Grime, you suck and I need directions to the evidence locker." Grime interjected.
"Oh, it's on the right and it's the door marked evidence locker." The guard replied.
"Thank you Andy!" Grime ran to the right while Andy sighed.
"My name is Randy. Not Andy."
Grime eventually made it to the evidence locker and saw that it thankfully required no key. "Well, that was easy. How hard can retrieving the violin be?"
Grime opened the door to reveal that violin was on a mantle piece, apparently unguarded. Grime started to talk towards the violin slowly just in case there might have been some kind of booby trap system. But luckily, there wasn't.
Grime got down on one knee and stared at the violin like he was hesitant to take it. He just had to stare at it to make sure he could take it without setting any alarm.
He reached out for the instrument but pulled his hand back before getting impatient and just snatching the violin. He smiled rather smugly before turning around to see none other than Warden Envy standing by the exit with her guards.
"Oh finally!" Envy exclaimed. "I thought you weren't going to grab it, I mean the suspense was killing me!"
"Oh…..Frog!" Grime groaned.
Back in Raida's cell, Eda and Raine were being silent as they tried to think about what to say to each other.
I mean, they were slowly rebuilding their relationship. Not romantic, but more of a friendly relationship. Eda was pestering Captain Ron by poking his intimidating moustache with a stick that happened to be the cell while Raine was busy trying to think of something to say.
"So….Even though the date was faked, how was it?" Raine asked.
Eda sighed. "Oh, thank goodness you said something. I was honestly getting bored of poking that guy's moustache."
"I was bored of you poking it as well." Ron retorted.
Eda then turned to face Raine as she threw the stick away. "Okay, so despite the fact I'm no way interested in Wrath, the date itself wasn't half bad. I mean the food was decent and the apple blood was pure A plus. And honestly, Wrath was great to talk to."
"Oh, was he now?" Raine asked, hint of jealousy in their voice. "So, you could only talk about your problems to him and not to me when we were together?"
"Wow, where's that attitude coming from?" Eda asked, already getting tired of Raine's new feisty attitude. "I mean, Raine Whispers was never this feisty. They were a shy, nervous, adorable wreck who showed on occasion that they weren't afraid. I mean, why do you think I had feelings for you?"
"Maybe….I like this new Raine Whispers." Raine retorted, nervously.
"Raine, I don't like it." Eda replied.
"Well, I'm still angry that you said those things about me!" Raine yelled. "Whether you meant it or not, I still don't like it!"
"Raine, I never meant to say anything bad about the Bard Coven." Eda assured them. "And yes, you have a few flaws that I found infuriating, but so do I. Besides, I didn't care about your flaws because of how I felt about you! And look, I have flaws as well."
"I tried to tolerate your flaws." Raine replied. "But, you wouldn't talk to me about what you were going through. That was your biggest flaw for me Eda. I wanted to help you, I wanted you to talk to me, but I felt disconnected from you that I had a feeling that it wasn't going to work and decided to join the Bard Coven so I could give you the space you so desired. I wish things were different, but you made it difficult."
Eda was silent at first since she was busy trying to process what her former lover said about her. But she eventually had tears falling down her face, something that made Raine freeze in panic.
"Eda….."
Eda quickly wiped away her tears. "Ignore that Raine." Eda sobbed. "It just…..Have something in my eye."
"Eda, was it something I said?" Raine asked with worry.
"It was something I realised." Eda replied. "During my date with Wrath, I felt guilty about how I ruined our relationship."
"Eda….."
"Don't try and make it out that it wasn't my fault." Eda interjected. "Raine, I ruined everything. If I only just let you in, if I let you helped me then maybe things would have been different." Eda dropped to her knees and started sobbing her eyes out, letting all the guilt within her take over. "I'm so sorry, Raine! I'm so sorry!"
Raine made some gentle shushes. "Eda, it's okay."
"It's not! I wish I allowed you to help me!" Eda exclaimed. "I should have allowed to help!"
"Eda, I know why you did it." Raine said. "You only wanted to protect me and I understand why. I think I deserve some of the blame for dumping you."
"Raine….You shouldn't." Eda assured them.
"I deserve to." Raine said. "For years, I've been thinking about our breakup. I….hate that this was where we left off. I shouldn't have cut connection between us. I should have tried everything to help you no matter how hard you try to say I'm okay. I was a coward."
"So it was no one's fault?" Eda chuckled. "Guess in a way, we both screwed things up." Eda wiped away her tears as she looked at her former lover. "Raine, it's okay. I get our relationship wasn't perfect and maybe it was deserving of me."
"And I forgive you." Raine responded.
"Hey Rainestorm, do you think, if I was honest, if I let you help, if I let you in my life, do you think you would have lived with my curse?" Eda asked.
Raine decided to think about that question for a moment while staring at their ex girlfriend. "Maybe…I don't know." Raine replied.
Eda stared at her former lover in their eyes with Raine looking back. They were blushing but they couldn't look away from each other that they swore they were leaning in to each other.
But it was interrupted when the sound of the door opened and a familiar toad was thrown in. "I will get out!" Grime exclaimed. "With or without my war hammer!"
"Good luck." Captain Ron responded before closing the door on them. "Like, good luck."
Raine froze as they tried to process what they were seeing in front of their eyes. There was a giant, walking, talking toad in their vision.
"Eda, you'd tell me I'd go mad, right?" Raine asked.
"Yes." Eda replied.
"Well, I'm seeing a walking, talking toad in our cell."
Grime then walked up to Raine and flicked their face. "We're all mad, Raine."
"Raine, this is Grime." Eda informed her former lover. "He's the guy who helped me fake my arrest so we could rescue you. Did you get the violin?"
"Why yes Eda, which was why I was arrested and thrown in the same cell as you." Grime sarcastically replied.
"Oh for Titan sake!" Eda exclaimed. "What about King? Did he get out?"
"King is now our only hope." Grime replied. "Anyway, since we have some time to relax let's start. Let me assume that you're Raine Whispers, Eda's ex lover and partner. I am Captain Grime of the toad army and super fan of Suspicion Island! We are here to break you out as soon as things get back to business!"
Raine was still trying to process what was right in front of them. "Eda, are you playing along with my hallucinations or is there actually a toad in front of me?"
Grime sighed. "I just flicked your face do you want me to punch it?"
"Might help." Raine replied.
"No one's going to be punching each other!" Eda exclaimed as she pushed Grime aside. "With my first escape plan failing really badly, we might have to hope King will manage to break us out."
"Well, then it'll be plan C if plan B takes too long." Grime then reached underneath his tongue and pulled out a spoon.
"Why yes, this will definitely break us out." Eda sarcastically remarked.
"Make sarcastic remarks all you want." Grime retorted as he approached the wall. "Because this spoon will help me dig our way out! Sasha…."
"His human." Eda explained to Raine.
"…..told me of this iconic movie where someone used a spoon to dig their way out of a prison." Grime explained. "It might take long, but eventually, we'll be out." Grime then started on the wall with very little progress. The sight made Eda and Raine narrow their eyes at the toad captain due to his incompetence. "I would have used my fists but last time I did that, I had bruised knuckles for 9 weeks. Didn't help my monthly underground boxing matches."
"Well, I'm going to go bad soon so….King, you better hurry up!" Eda yelled.
"He will." Ron assured them.
"Ron, your optimism is helping me have a little faith." Eda replied.
"No, he will, so take cover." Ron replied before the door got blown open by a loud 'Weh' sound.
Once the smoke cleared, King ran into the cell with Raine's violin in hand. "You would not believe how easy it was to not get caught."
The first thing Raine did was go wide eyed as their eyes started shining. "Ohhhh Eda, he is so cute."
"Okay, when I free you from your chains, you better not hug me." King then screamed the chains off of Raine but it did cause them to crash into a wall.
With that, Grime helped Raine up and turned to King. "Did you by any chance bring my warhammer?"
"Do I look strong enough to carry it?" King asked.
"No time to debate." Eda interjected. "We got a breakout to commit."
"Great, you two get out and meet us on the roof." Grime requested. "Me and King will retrieve my warhammer."
"But you don't have a weapon." King remarked.
Grime picked up King by holding him with one hand on his stomach and the other on his tail. "Now I do." Grime then ran out of the cell to the deal with the approaching guards.
"King, say ah!" Grime exclaimed.
"What?" King asked before Grime pulled on his tail, making him scream and shooting the guards across the room.
Once they were gone, Eda cracked her neck while Raine readied his instrument. "I don't know how you're going to handle them since you have a lack of magic."
"I have my own brand." Eda retorted as she closed her eyes and ran out of the cell while feathers started to sprout from her arms.
The sight of feathers made Raine fearful since they knew what was going to happen to Eda, the Owl Beast.
"Eda! Are you crazy?!"
"Crazy mad!" Eda replied while guards surrounded her with staffs. Then, wings sprouted from her back as she fully transformed, not into the Owl Beast, but into Harpy Eda.
Once Eda was in full harpy form, the Owl Lady smashed the guards all over like they were nothing like rag dolls. She tossed one to the wall, knocked one down with her wing and even shoved a few down a flight of stairs.
Once the remaining guards retreated to get some more allies, Eda wiped away some sweat from her brow. "Woo! That wasn't hard. Don't know why I broke a sweat. Well Raine, are you coming?"
But Raine was staring at Eda with their jaw wide open, their face covered in red and their violin was close to falling out of their hand. "Eda?"
Eda acknowledged her former lover and smiled. "Oh yeah, I wanted to tell you about it but I just wanted to see the look on your face."
"Eda!" Raine pouted.
"I hope your violin skills haven't slowed down." Eda said before a random arrow missed her. "Raine, how's your cue for you and your rod to help."
Raine quickly pulled themselves together and ran out of their cell. They started playing their violin with the violin bowl, causing the guards to start floating upwards.
"Woah! Woah!" The guards exclaimed.
Eda then dived forward towards the guards, crashing into them and throwing them against the wall.
Some more guards arrive, and Raine played their violin to make fly backwards into one of the cells, with Eda closing it and Captain Ron locking it.
The two were about to run out of the prison corridor, but they stopped when they realised who locked the door to that cell. The two turned around and saw Captain Ron drinking a glass of apple blood. Did someone from the Warden Envy's crew just helped them out.
He turned to them and sighed. "I did mention I am against the Emperor, didn't I?" Captain Ron asked.
"Yeah well….We just thought you'd watch on the sidelines." Raine said.
"Do you want an overlong explanation or do you want to get out?" Captain Ron asked.
"Good point." Raine said.
"Come on Rainestorm!" Eda said, let's get out before Warden Envy gets ticked off.
Eda and Raine ran out the room so they could find a way to escape while Captain Ron had a apple blood and griffin egg sandwich for his lunch.
The guards started knocking on their cell trying to get the attention of the guard captain but he wasn't paying attention. "I am eating and I wanna go home after I've finished." Captain Ron responded.
Meanwhile, Grime and King were both fighting their way through guards with the combination of super powerful screams and an all mighty warhammer.
King blew the guards across the room with powerful screams while Grime smashed one of the guard's faces down in the toilet with his free hand.
"They're too powerful!" A guard exclaimed as they ran for their life. "I gotta contact Warden-" But before the guard could get close to contacting the warden, they ran into Grime's powerful hammer, causing their mask to smash.
Grime winced at the guard's injury. "Oh boy, that's definitely a broken jaw."
King blew another guard away with his scream, causing them to shoot pass the stairs and out the window. "Ha! Take that!" King then did some panting due to using so much power. "Okay, that was more power than I should have been using."
"Hey King, when this is over, do you perhaps want to do some stuff together?" Grime asked. "We make quite the formidable team."
"Like stealing?" King asked.
"Well, stealing, killing monarchs, overthrowing jerks and-"
"You had me at killing monarchs!" King interjected. "Why didn't you stop there?!" The dog's response made Grime smile, knowing he has found a new partner.
Meanwhile, Eda and Raine managed to make it to a ladder leading to the roof. They stared at at the hatch that lead to where they needed to be to escape since they knew the boat would be either heavily guarded or destroyed. But unfortunately, the hatch was rather small so Eda couldn't fit herself through it.
"Okay, this might be a problem." Raine remarked.
"Do you think the floor is made of wood?" Eda asked.
"Looks like it, why?" Raine responded.
"Try not to gush." Eda said before carrying Raine in her arms and putting them close to her body so they wouldn't get injured.
Up the ladder, the guards were aiming their staffs at the hatch for when they'll eventually pop out. "Wait, can she even fit through that?" The guard asked before Eda smashed through, causing the guards to be knocked out.
She landed carefully on the floor, still carrying Raine in her arms. The ex-head of the Bard Coven was blushing like crazy due to being carried by Eda.
"Well…..That was….Incredible." Remarked a blushing Raine.
"Well, if you want I can carry you back to The Owl House." Eda offered flirtatiously.
The offer turned Raine's face red like a tomato. "Well…Uh….It's a….Amazing….It's….quite the….off…..er?"
"Ha, I love it when I break you." Eda chortled.
"Well, how about if I do?" Suggested the voice of Warden Envy.
The two looked forward and saw Warden Envy, looking sweaty and frustrated. She was panting with exhaustion as she held a crossbow with a flaming arrow that was set by her.
"Do not move and do not play one tune from your instrument Whispers!" Warden Envy demanded. "Now, drop everything in your hands and raise your hands!"
Raine dropped their violin while Eda just narrowed her eyes at the warden with a deadpan expression. "Okay, I'm not dropping them."
"Very well, this would be a perfect way to end things." Warden Envy remarked. "Two lovers; one dying in another's arms. Pretty romantic way to go."
"Listen Envy, why don't you let us go?" Eda asked. "I know you aren't so you might as well explain."
Envy took a deep breath. "I am sweating, I am frustrated and I am holding a flaming crossbow because some one had to turn into a hot monster. I mean, a gorgeous monster! I mean, a beautifully exotic monster! I mean….You get the point!" She aimed the crossbow towards them.
"You do realise I can just fly away, right?" Eda asked.
Just then, Captain Ron snuck up behind Eda and hit her with a syringe of orange liquid and Eda turned back from harpy mode to regular mode, while still holding Raine.
"Oh Ron!" Eda yelled.
"Sorry, she requested I'd do it or she'd cancel my salary." Ron said.
"Ha! Good thing I had Ron search through your hair." Warden Envy smiled. "That elixir is rather handy, ain't it?"
"Well, the beast is gonna be dormant for 8 hours so…." Eda said.
"Well, this was a bust." Raine remarked.
"You're telling me." Eda replied.
"Okay Eda, you're about to be blown to smithereens." Warden Envy announced as she started to step backwards, close to the edge. "You better stand back Ron unless you wanna be blown to smithereens. Oh you know what, you proved your treachery so I'm gonna blow you up as well."
"Fair." Ron replied.
She soon stopped as she aimed her crossbow at the crooks and traitor. "You know, I wish I could see the look on my brother's face as I blow the one he loves to smithereens. And once you're dead, I'll mount your heads in my office as trophies! I don't care if the Emperor needs you for the Day of Unity! Because we're all-"
Before Warden Envy could finish her sentence, the trapdoor that was below her feet swung open, causing the warden to fall off the ledge and into the boiling seas while screaming.
Grime and King poked their heads out and stared at the people in front of them with deadpan expressions. "I hope I didn't knock anyone off. I hate opening the trapdoor to someone on top of it."
"Grime, King!" Eda yelled out before gently placing Raine down on the floor.
"You couldn't have held me for a few more minutes?" Raine flirtatiously queried.
"Okay, can I have this Raine when we get back?" Eda asked. "Because I'm loving them."
"What happened to Harpy Eda?" King asked.
Eda then pointed to Ron. "This guy incapacitated them with my elixir for 8 hours so I can't carry them back to the Owl House like I wanted to."
"Ooooh, how romantic." Grime remarked. "So, how are we going to get back?"
Eda then whistled and Owlbert arrived as quick as he could. "Hop on Raine."
King jumped on the Palisman with Raine following, holding their violin.
"Do you think the girls will be back?" King asked.
"I hope so." Eda replied. "I mean, it's just a simple box, how hard can it be to find?"
"It's a lot harder, I assure you." Grime informed the Owl Lady. "Anyway, can either Raine or King scoot over so I can get on?"
Eda analysed Grime to see if he can fit on her Palisman but King, Raine and Owlbert shook their heads. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with them on this one. I don't think you can fit."
"What?!" Grime exclaimed. "It's because of my weight isn't it?! I'll have you know, I lost about nearly all of my weight after days of binging Suspicion Island and eating."
"Okay, we are judging your weight." Eda replied. "But it's not because you don't have a bulging gut, you're just the fattest in the group. Fly Owlbert!" Owlbert flew off with Raine holding on to Eda's waist so they wouldn't fall with King holding Raine's as well.
Grime sighed. "Uh, and Luz says this was a place where everyone judged you by character. So, am I supposed to row my way back?!"
"I'll take you back." Captain Ron replied. "I have a boat."
Grime smiled. "Okay, I'm coming. I hope Sasha hasn't lost her eye for that box."