Chapter 27 Knock, Knock, Knockin' On Hooty's Door:
(Hooty's Narration)
"Dearest Lulu, I hope this letter finds you well and that you're enjoying your time with your parents. I'm writing to let you know that I am a genius!"
To a couple of days before:
"Whence I wrote to you last, I was in the throes of a malaise. That's when I got your letter"
(Lilith's Narration)
"Hello, Hootsifer. Your letter concerned me. You write of feeling unimportant while Luz, Kai, Eda and King are off on adventures. But, Hooty, you are the Owl House. You take care of everyone inside you. If that isn't a worthy purpose, then what is?
Hooty smiled and went into the Owl House. He opened the door of where everyone was. Luz was holding the cage with the Echo Mouse in it, Kai was reading a comic book, Eda was looking over some books and scrolls while King was looking at the crystal ball.
"How we doing, Hoot House?" he asked.
King turned to him.
"Can you keep it down?" he asked as his voice cracked.
King groaned.
"Down. Down! Why does this keep happening?" he asked.
Kai looked up from his book.
"Looks like someone's going through puberty," he said.
Hooty smiled.
"Aw! Our little demon is becoming a "de-man" he said.
King groaned.
"Ugh! Why does that sound so wrong coming from you?" King asked in another voice crack.
He growled.
"You! Ah! I am done with this!" King said, stomping off.
Hooty laughed as he leaned towards Eda.
"Those teens, eh? Their moods change like the wind," he said.
Kai and Luz exchanged looks but said nothing. Eda looked up from the scrolls to show deep eye bags under her eyes.
"Woah!" Hooty exclaimed.
"I'm freaking out Hooty. Belos is planning something big and I'm weaker than a newborn witchling. If I want to protect you guys, I have to train as hard as I can to get strong. No rest!" Eda said, standing up.
Kai turned to his aunt.
"Aunt Eda, if you keep working like this, you're going to burnout," the hybrid boy said, concerned.
Hooty nodded.
"And everytime you overwork yourself, you turn into the Owl Beast," he said.
"I said no rest!" Eda exclaimed as she pulled out an air horn and blew it.
Kai and Luz covered their ears.
"Can you please be quiet? You're scaring the Echo Mouse and if he's not happy I'll never make my way into Amity's heart," Luz said.
Kai raised an eyebrow and Luz blushed when she realized what she said.
"I mean, make a portal back home. Uh, we have to go," she said, grabbing Kai by his sleeve and pulling him upstairs.
'You were right, Lulu. These four needed my help. So, I've devised a plan of plans,' Hooty thought to himself as he gained a smug look.
Hooty slithered to the kitchen where King was.
'Your words inspired me to help everyone, Lulu. So, I'll start with King,' he said in his head.
King was looking at some demon books that could help him with whatever is going on.
"Maybe if I figure out what kind of demon I am, I'll know what's going on. But none of these look like me, " he said.
'Our little bundle of joy was growing up, and he had questions. As the only other demon in the house, I had answers! But would he accept help from me? Never. Unless…' Hooty said, getting an idea.
Hooty loomed over King before his eyes glowed yellow and he swallowed King whole.
Later:
A giant owl pellet fell on the ground as King crawled out of it into a dark room.
"Did you just owl pellet me?!" he shouted.
"Are you angry, sweaty? Is there hair in places? Does your voice crack in a super embarrassing way?" Hooty's voice asked.
King looked around for him.
"I have the answers you seek.."Hooty said as he came up behind King.
"You're going through demon puberty!" he announced as the lights came on.
King face palmed.
"Ugh! The last thing I want from you is a health class," King said.
Hooty stretched to a poster.
"This isn't a health class, it's an unholy test, to determine what kind of demon you are," he said.
King gasped.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yup. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm the only other demon here. So, what other choice do you have?" Hooty asked.
King sighed.
"Alright. What the heck," King said.
He yelped as Hooty grabbed him by his collar and set him down on a stool.
"Our ancestors arose from the muck of a decomposing Titan. And there are so many of us! But all demons can be placed in three categories: Bug, Biped and Beast," Hooty said.
King blinked.
"Hooty, everyone knows about the three Bs-" he said before getting cut off.
"Do not interrupt! Now, I'm pretty sure you're not a bug, but we can't rule anything out. As a type of worm myself. I'm an expert on this subject! Let's begin!" Hooty said, picking King up.
Test Number One; Communication:
King groaned as he was dressed in a pink shirt and blue shorts.
"Bug types naturally communicate through dance. Like so," Hooty said as a fairy and a butterfly flew towards them.
The fairy and the butterfly began to dance with one another before bowing to each other. Hooty sniffled.
"Poetic," he said before looking at King.
King started to do a small dance before ending it with finger guns. The three bug demons were in shock.
"Don't you talk about my mother!" Hooty shouted as he charged at King.
King screamed as he ran off.
Test Number two; Fighting:
King panted as he was covered in bruises.
"Well, your dance was offensive and your attempt to spin a cocoon was just…sad. Honestly," Hooty said.
King shuddered.
"Can we not talk about the cocoon?" he asked.
"Okay. Let's see if you're a Biped demon. They walk on two legs and even have bile sacks just like witches!" Hooty said.
He moved to a small box.
"So for this test, you're gonna have a duel with a little friend of mine," he said.
Hooty tapped the box as Tiny Nose walked out playing on a nintendo switch.
"A scuffle, eh? Alright, let's do it. Just don't get mad if you can't-" King said before getting cut off by Hooty ringing a bell.
Tiny Nose glared at King before tossing her game away. She let out a battle cry as she drew a spell circle and fired at King. King let out a shout of pain as he was struck with the spell.
Test Number 3; Blood Samples:
King was sitting on a chest as he was covered in more bruises.
"Wow, not a single spell. Even bug demons have some magic," Hooty said.
King shook his head.
"It's fine. It's fine. Let's just keep going," he said.
"Okay, okay. There's only one way to test for beast demons," Hooty said.
Tiny Nose walked in with a giant needle.
"I'm gonna need a blood sample," Hooty said.
"I "gwaduated" from medical school!" Tiny Nose cheered.
The needle poked King and he let out a scream of pain.
"OUCH!"
Later:
King was standing on the roof of the Owl House.
"After reviewing the results, we've come to a conclusion," Hooty said.
"Lay it on me. Bug, Biped, Beast, I don't care. I just wanna know what I am," King said.
Hooty loomed over him.
"You…" he began.
King waited in anticipation.
"Are you!" Hooty announced as red balloons fell.
"Weh?" King asked.
"The blood tests were inconclusive. We don't really know what you are. But that's okay 'cause we don't need to know that to be your friends," Hooty said.
King clenched his fists as he chuckled bitterly.
"I thought you had real answers," he said.
"The only real answer is inside your heart," Hooty said, rubbing his face against King's.
King pushed him away.
"I don't need you to tell me to love myself, Hooty. I want to know where I came from, what my dad looked like. What I'll look like when I grow up," he said, picking up a balloon.
The balloon popped in his hands.
"I don't have any responses to my video yet. Or my wanted posters," King said.
He clenched his fists tightly.
"Maybe my dad is gone. Maybe there's no one else like me. And I'll live my whole life without any answers," King said.
"No! I didn't wanna make you mad!" Hooty said.
King turned to him with tearful eyes.
"Well, I am mad. At him, for not being here!" he said.
Tears ran down his face and hit the floor.
"He left me alone!" King shouted.
As he did, a giant shock wave went out through the roof, popping the balloons. King breathed heavily as Hooty and Tiny Nose were left in shock. King calmed down and looked at his hands in shock.
"Huh?" he asked.
Hooty looked at the ground.
"Oh, no. Now I'm sad," he said.
Tiny Nose walked up to him.
"At least the cake's good," she said.
"It was supposed to be a crumble!" Hooty cried as he left.
"Hooty? Hooty!" King shouted.
Back inside the Owl House:
'Things got a little uh messy with King but I wasn't about to give up! What Eda said confused me. How could she get stronger if she's bone-tired? And maybe I was being a nervous Nellie, but I couldn't shake my fear of the Owl Beast coming out,' Hooty said.
Eda was walking down the hallway.
"Me? Sleep? Ha! Not until I can call myself the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles once again!" Eda declared.
She walked to her room when she noticed a plate of cookies and milk in front of it. Eda saw a note and grabbed it.
"A reward for all your hard work! Love, Hooty"?" Eda asked.
She smiled as she grabbed one.
"Hmm. Not a bad idea. I could use the fuel," Eda said.
She took a bite out of it.
"Damn, owl boy can bake," Eda said before taking another bite.
Eda continued chewing before noticing something strange about the cookie. Looking closely at the cookie, Eda could see purple sparkles coming from the cookie.
"Sleeping nettles?" Eda asked.
Hooty came through the floor.
"Yup! One bite will put you to sleep for hours!" he said.
Eda pinched the space between her nose.
"Hooty…Sleeping nettles don't just put you to sleep. They heighten your dreams! Do you realize who you just stuck me with?" she asked.
A noise was heard from behind her and Eda turned to hear the Owl Beast growling.
"Hooty, whatever you do, don't let me fall asleep," she said, turning to Hooty only to see that he was gone.
Eda cursed to herself as she turned to where she heard the Owl Beast.
"You know, maybe this is an opportunity. The Owl Beast is why I ran away from home. The Owl Beast is why I never got close to anyone. The Owl Beast-" Eda said.
She was cut off by a shadow rushing past her. Eda clenched her fists and turned around.
"The Owl Beast is why I don't have magic," she growled.
The Owl Beast came around the corner. Eda put her fists up.
"You've haunted me long enough, birdbrain. I think it's time for me to haunt you," she said, taking a step forward.
As she did, the room changed to her childhood bedroom. Eda blinked in confusion before going towards a mirror to see her 14 year old self.
"Huh! Well, this is a development," she said.
"What's a development?" a voice asked.
Eda gasped and turned to see a 12 year old Kendrick standing behind her with a confused look on his face.
"Kenny!" Eda exclaimed, running forward and hugging her brother tightly.
Kendrick staggered back but managed to keep his balance.
"Woah!" he exclaimed.
He hugged his sister back despite being confused with the unexpected embrace.
"You okay, E?" Kendrick asked.
The two siblings broke the hug as Kendrick gave his older sister a small but confused smile.
"Um, yeah, it's just…" Eda said before hearing her mother calling for them.
"Edalyn! Kendrick! Come downstairs please!" Gwendolyn said.
Kendrick made an air scooter and flew downstairs.
"Race you!" he called over his shoulder.
Eda followed him down the stairs where Gwen was setting up the table for dinner and Lilith was making a napkin origami. Kendrick flew past Gwendolyn on his air scooter.
"Kendrick, I've told you not to use the air scooter in the house," Gwen scolded.
Kendrick smiled sheepishly and jumped off.
"Sorry, Mom," he said.
Gwendolyn turned to her middle child.
"Edalyn, help us set up, won't you?" she asked.
Eda shook her head and walked down the steps.
"Sorry, dream-mom. I don't have time for whatever this is. I'm on a mission," she said.
Gwen chuckled.
"You're going to say that the night your dad leaves for the Mandible?" she asked.
Eda's eyes went wide.
"Dad?" she asked.
The front door opened as a young man. He was tall with a fair skin complexion. He had golden eyes, a sloped nose, pointed ears, scruffy orange hair worn in a ponytail and a fluffy orange beard and mustache.
"Hey kids, here to see me off?" he asked.
"Dad!" Eda said, hugging her father tightly.
"It's so good to see you again," she said.
Dell chuckled.
"I was only gone for an hour," he said.
Kendrick laughed.
"Eda's been a little emotional lately," he said, grinning.
Dell nodded.
"Anyway, since I won't be home for a while," Dell said, holding up a party popper.
"Wait, I remember this now," Eda said.
"I'll be leaving in style!" Dell said, pulling the string and setting the party popper off.
A bright light went out through the room as Eda's pupils dilated and the Owl beast came out and loomed above Dell who was in shock.
"Dad, watch out!" Kendrick said.
He pulled the Tanto out and swung it, sending a gust of wind at the beast. The wind knocked the Owl Beast to the ground. The Owl Beast growled and charged at Kendrick.
"Kendrick!" Dell shouted, pushing his son out of the way.
The Owl Beast tackled the older man to the ground. Eda watched as Dell tried to fight the beast off.
"No! I won't let you ruin this again!" Eda said.
She grabbed the Owl Beast by its feathers and pulled it off her father before tossing it out the door. Eda, now back in her adult form, slammed the door shut. She breathed heavily before turning to see her younger self on the ground covered in feathers, looking at her father. Dell was covered in scars as he held a hand to his bleeding left eye.
"Dell! Kendrick, get the first aid kit! Lilith, call the healing coven, now!" Gwen said.
Kendrick ran upstairs to get the first aid while Lilith ran to the kitchen to call the healing coven. Gwen bent down beside Dell as the room became dark. Eda clenched her fists.
"It wasn't your fault," she told herself.
The Owl Beast appeared behind her. Eda growled and turned, swinging a punch.
"It was yours!" she shouted as the room changed again.
It was a field of flowers which showed Raine sitting on a hill.
"Eda…I-Woah! What are you doing?" they asked.
Eda opened her eyes and saw Raine in front of her.
"Raine! I…uh, nothing. I'm fine," she said, laughing.
Raine shook their head.
"You're lying again. It's like I don't really know you. So, I've made a decision," Raine said.
Eda shook her head as she stood up and turned away.
"I know how this plays out but I'll be ready this time. You hear me, birdbrain?" Eda asked.
"I'm joining the Bard Coven and…" Raine said.
'But I hate this part,' Eda said in her head.
"..I think we should see other people. I'm sorry, Eda. It's over," Raine said, their voice breaking.
Eda looked down at her hands to see feathers growing out of them and gripped her head as her eyes turned gray. Raine looked at her as they stood up.
"Are you okay? Is this the curse?" they asked.
Past Eda turned away as Eda came towards her.
"Just tell them. Let them help," she said.
Past Eda laughed.
"It's fine. Everything's normal. You can leave now," she said.
Raine sighed as they turned away.
"I can't do this anymore," they said as they walked away.
"Stop pushing them away," Eda said as the scene changed again.
"Eda!" a voice called.
Eda opened her eyes to see that she was her younger self sitting in the woods.
'What in the name of titan?' she said in her head.
The sound of hurried footsteps were heard before someone stopped in front of Eda and pulled her into a hug. Eda's hands flew up to push the person away but stopped when she felt familiar curls against her cheek.
'Kendrick..' Eda said in her head.
She didn't hesitate to return the embrace, hugging her kid brother and gripping the back of his shirt tightly.
"It's not your fault," Kendrick said.
Eda remembered this memory. It was after she ran off from hurting her father.
"But I hurt him. I hurt Dad," she said.
Kendrick shook his head.
"You couldn't control what was going on, Eda," he said.
Eda's breathing began to quicken. Kai hugged his sister tighter when he felt the feathers on her arms.
"I'm a monster, Ken. Why would you want to be around someone like me?" Eda asked.
"Because, cursed or not, you're my big sister and the Clawthorne kids stick together. No matter what," he said.
Eda felt tears in her eyes and hugged her brother tightly, but she didn't feel his embrace anymore. Opening her eyes, Eda saw that she was sitting on a black and white beach. A shriek caught her ears and Eda looked ahead to see the shrunken Owl Beast trying to fly away but was unable to due to the red string around its leg. Eda picked up the red string around her leg as the owl beast fell into the water. The Owl beast crawled out of the water, grumbling as it fell to the sand. Eda walked towards it and bent down beside it.
"It's okay," she said, placing a hand on its head.
The Owl beast growled at her slightly and put its head down. The ocean suddenly turned a golden yellow as a bottle of the elixir was washed upon shore. Eda grabbed it and looked at it.
"I thought these were a way to fight you, but I think they're the reason we can stand here, face to face," she said.
The Owl beast looked at her and Eda sighed.
"Listen, neither of us want to be here, but we are, and there's no changing that. If we can't accept each other this nightmare will never end," she said.
She poured the elixir into her hand and held her hand out to the beast.
"So, what do you say? Truce? For now?" she asked.
The Owl beast sniffed her hand before licking the elixir. Eda chuckled.
"It's like sandpaper," she said.
The Owl Beast crawled into Eda's lap and curled up into a ball. Eda smiled and gently stroked its head. The sky then turned into a galaxy color as Eda looked at it in awe.
"Wow…I've never had a dream this pretty," she said.
A bright light went out as Eda covered her eyes to avoid being blinded.
Back in the real world:
Eda woke up with a gasp as she breathed heavily.
"Ugh! My head!" she said, placing a hand on her head.
As she did, Eda noticed something strange.
"Huh? Oh, geez, did I turn again?" she asked herself, running to a mirror.
As she looked herself in the mirror, Eda saw that she wasn't the Owl Beast but instead some kind of Harpy Beast. Eda looked over herself with a smile.
"Woah," she said.
"I made it worse," a voice said.
Eda turned to see Hooty standing around the corner.
"I made it worse!" he cried.
Eda stepped towards him.
"Hooty, wait, it's okay," she said.
Unfortunately, Hooty didn't listen as he slithered off sobbing.
"Hooty!" she called.
Eda stood up straighter as she looked into a mirror. She gave a wolf whistle as she spun around, checking herself out.
"Now this is a hot look," she said.
With Luz and Kai:
"You're scaring the echo mouse. If he's not happy, I'll never make my way into Amity's heart. I mean, make a portal back home. Uh…we have to go!".
Kai grunted as Luz pulled him into their room and slammed the door. The older boy looked at Luz.
"Are you okay, manita?" he asked.
Luz shook her head.
"No. I have no idea how to ask Amity out," she said, falling face first on a pillow.
Kai sat down beside her.
"I'd help but I'm not really good with the whole romance thing especially since I can't even ask my own crush out," he said.
Luz looked at him.
"Didn't one of the girl in your class had a crush on you and then kissed you back in middle school?" she asked.
Kai looked at her.
"You know I don't like to talk about that," he said.
Luz gave him an apologetic look.
"Sorry," she said.
Kai shook his head.
"It's fine," he said.
Luz nodded and turned to look at the mouse.
"Okay, little mouse, if you don't want to tell me about Philip or how he made his portal, maybe you could tell me how to ask out a cotton-candy-haired goddess?" she asked.
Kai let out a snort.
"Luz, sis, I love you and I have no problems with you gushing over Amity but if you ever say something like that again, I'm going to smack you over the head," he said.
Luz stuck her tongue out at him and Kai rolled his eyes as he laid down on his sleeping bag with his hands behind his head.
'Kai was dealing with a relationship that went wrong in the past which was keeping him from asking the girl of his dreams out and Luz's heart was torn between finding a way home and the pursuit of love. How'd I know all that? I suppose I'm just attuned to other peoples' emotions. Neither of them were going to make any progress if they were stuck in the past and their attention was split,' Hooty said.
Kai huffed as he sat up.
"Luz, I'm going for a walk," he said, grabbing his vest.
The Latina girl gave him a thumbs up and Kai walked outside out of the house. He placed his hands behind his head as he walked through the woods. Kai clenched his fists as those memories came back. Kai gritted his teeth as he could hear the laughter of the other kids after he was embarrassed in front of the whole class! A noise made Kai's ears twitch and he turned around, his eyes flickering from yellow to green.
"Hello?" he asked.
No response. Kai shook his head and resumed walking. Another sound was heard and Kai turned with his left arm covered in flames.
"Whosoever out there I'm not in the mood!" he shouted.
Once again, no answer. Kai huffed and continued walking.
"I swear if this is some kind of gam-WOAH!" Kai exclaimed.
The leaves beneath him gave out, sending Kai down a deep hole. He grunted as he rolled down the tunnel and fell on the ground. Kai let out a groan as he sat up and rubbed his head.
"Ugh! That's gonna hurt in the morning," he grumbled.
"Kai?" a voice asked.
The hybrid boy blinked and looked to see Viney leaning against the wall.
"Viney? What are you doing here?" he asked, standing up.
Viney shrugged.
"I think that owl tube thing brought me here," she said.
Kai looked at her confused before realizing who she meant.
"Hooty!" he groaned.
Kai ran a hand through his hair.
"Sorry about this, V. Hooty can be a handful. Let's get out of here before your Dad thinks you got kidnapped," he said.
Though as he turned to leave, Kai walked face first into a force field, hitting his nose. He staggered back holding his face.
"Ow! The fuck?!" he asked.
Viney stepped forward and placed her hand on the force field.
"There's some kind of barrier here," she said.
Kai pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Hooty…I don't care if you can hear me or not but if you don't let us out of here, I'm going to turn you into a pretzel!" he shouted.
Can this day get any worse?
Back with Luz:
The Latina girl was still having trouble with asking Amity out.
"Okay, Amity's cool, smart and classy. Asking her out should be breathtaking, emotional and real!" Luz exclaimed.
She then folded arms.
"Everyone back home said I was cheesy. I can't let Amity think the same," she said.
A knock on her door was heard and Luz went to open it. Looking out into the hall, Luz saw a note on the ground. She grabbed it and read it.
"As we stumble through life, gloom knows no bounds. You'll only find love when you're in the ground"? Ugh!" Luz groaned before flipping the note.
"P.S I mean the basement,"
Luz shook her head and stood up.
"Hooty, I don't have time for this!" she exclaimed.
She then looked back at the note.
"Also, we have a basement?" she asked herself.
Against her better judgment, Luz walked to the basement. She opened the door and with a light glyph in hand, Luz walked down the steps. She then noticed a familiar shadow in the corner of the room.
"Amity?!" she exclaimed.
The shadow was then revealed to be a lamp and a lump of something on the ground. Luz laughed as she walked closer.
"That's crazy. Why would Amity be in our-" Luz began.
A muffled sound came from the lump as Luz stepped back. The lump moved before Amity broke out gasping for air. Luz blinked in surprise.
"Amity?!" she exclaimed.
The purple haired girl looked at her.
"Luz? Where are we? I think Hooty brought me here?" Amity said.
The latina girl blushed.
"Well, you're in our basement. I am so sorry about this. Hooty's been acting weird all day," Luz said, helping Amity to her feet.
Amity chuckled nervously.
"Yeah. House demons get like that after a couple thousand years. It's fine," she said as she stepped back a bit.
"Listen, about what happened at my place. I kinda-If we could just forget about the whole thing maybe? I-" Amity started before Luz cut her off.
"Hey! All I care about is getting you out of our dirty, weird basement," Luz said.
She moved closer to Amity only for the ground beneath to sink. The two girls yelped as they stumbled, making Luz fall into Amity and sending them to the ground. Luz used her hand to keep herself from falling on top of Amity but ended up hovering above her. The two girls blushed when they saw that their faces were a few inches apart.
"Umm.." Luz tried to say before the ground below gave away, sending the two girls into a lower level of the house.
"AHHHHHHHH!" the two girls screamed as they fell into a boat.
Luz rubbed her head as Amity groaned in pain. A paper floated down from above and Luz reached to grab it before reading it to herself.
"To return to the world above, make your way through the tunnel of…oh titan no," Luz whispered in fear.
The lights came on to show a tunnel filled with cardboard cutouts of flowers, cute animals, clouds and hearts. Amity blinked.
"What is this?" she asked.
Luz grabbed at her hair as she whimpered in embarrassment and the boat started moving.
'Kai, where are you?' she thought to herself.
With Kai and Viney:
Kai grunted as he threw a fireball at the force field while Viney tried to find a way out. The hybrid boy panted before pulling his arm back for another try but was stopped by Viney grabbing his arm.
"It's not working Kai, you should take a break before you tire yourself out," she said.
Kai nodded as he sat down on the ground. Viney sat down beside him.
"When we get out of here, I'm going to beat the crap out of Hooty," he grumbled.
Viney giggled which made Kai smile slightly. He then grunted as a plastic bottle fell on his head. Kai rubbed his head and grabbed the bottle.
"What is it?" Viney asked.
"It looks like a note from Hooty," Kai said, opening the bottle.
He took the note out and looked at it.
"To get back to the top world from this abyss, all it takes is a kiss from your miss," Kai read aloud.
His face turned a dark red as he looked at Viney who had an equally red face.
"Does that mean we have to…kiss?" she asked.
Kai buried his face into his hands.
'To every god above, please kill me right now,' he said in his head.
Back at the Owl House:
'Hooty, I swear I'm going to kill you after this,' Luz said in her head as the boat continued through the tunnel.
Amity looked around before spotting a sign that read "I think you're cool, smart and classy". Amity was left in shock as she blushed a deep red while playing with her hair. Luz groaned and pulled her hood up.
" Oh, man. I'm gonna be made fun of again," she mumbled.
Amity turned to her with a small blush on her face.
"Did you-Did you just say something?" she asked.
Luz looked at her before noticing a heart sign that said "Amity Bee Mine". Luz squeaked and quickly pulled it down. She looked at Amity and laughed nervously.
"Invasive species. Don't wanna get attacked, hehe," she said.
Amity looked at her with a concerned look. Luz heard giggling and she looked up to see a Hooty cupid fire an arrow into the water. Attached to it was a letter that said "Amity you are a cutie!" Luz gulped.
"I'm sorry Amity, this wasn't supposed to happen!" she said, knocking the arrows away.
From there, Luz threw fire and plant glyphs around the tunnel, destroying everything. Amity felt tears in her eyes as she looked down at her lap. The boat came to a stop. Luz climbed out of the water and ran a hand through her hair.
"That was a disaster," she said.
Amity sighed as she climbed out of the boat.
"Yeah. It kinda was. I'll get out of your hair," she said, walking away.
Luz scrambled to her feet.
"Wait, Amity. This wasn't my idea. This was another one of Hooty's stupid antics," she said.
Amity stopped walking and clenched her fists.
"Yeah. This was stupid. I mean, us, dating? Heh. That's stupid, right?" she asked as she turned to Luz with a tear running down her face.
Luz gasped.
"Amity, that's not what I-" she tried to say before Hooty came out from under the dock.
"No! I did it again!" he cried before slithering off in tears.
He came to the top surface as he cried.
"I can't help anyone!" he sobbed.
Hooty then tried to pull himself out of the door, shaking the house.
"Out! Out! Vile owl! Rid this place of thyself!" he cried.
Up on the tower, King held on as he looked down.
"Hooty! Calm down you, ding dong!" He said.
Unfortunately, Hooty didn't listen as he kept trying to take his body out the door.
"Never shall I curse this home with my odious presence again!" he cried.
King yelped as he slipped from the tower and grabbed onto the ledge. After a few failures, Hooty realized what he had to do.
"Time to do this the hard way," he said.
King yelped as the house shook again and Hooty took himself out of the door. Inside, Eda grunted as she tried to keep her balance. She heard a voice cry out and looked out the window to see King about to fall. King tried to hold on tighter but lost his grip. King screamed as he fell. Eda flew outside and caught him in her arms. King looked up at her and gasped.
"Eda?" he asked.
"Don't worry, I think it's a good thing," Eda said.
She then started looking around.
"But where's Kai and Luz?" she asked.
Back with Kai and Viney:
Kai and Viney grunted as the room shook.
"What's going on up there?" Viney asked.
Kai shook his head.
"I don't know but we have to get out of here," he said.
Kai pulled his fist back as electrical shocks surrounded his hand.
"Thunder Punch!" he shouted, swinging his arm.
His hand connected with the force field but it did no damage. Kai panted as he kept punching the barrier. Eventually he stopped as Viney stepped forward.
"Kai, that obviously isn't working. I think we have to do what the note says," she said.
Kai felt his ears burn but shook his head.
"N-nah! I'm sure we can find another way out," he said.
Viney frowned as Kai walked away from her.
"Why are you acting so weird?" she asked.
Kai sweated nervously.
"What?! Me? Weird? Haha! I'm fine," he said.
Viney folded her arms.
"Then why are you so against the fact that you have to kiss me to get out of here?" she asked.
"I mean…we're friends and it'll be weird if we kissed," Kai said.
Viney gained a hurt look. Is that all they ever were? She looked away from him as her eyes burned with unshed tears.
"Yeah. What was I thinking? Us kissing would be weird," she said in a choked whisper.
Kai felt his stomach drop when he realized his mistake. He had just told his crush that they were just friends and that kissing her would be weird.
"I-I…V, that's not what I meant," he said.
Viney glared at him with tearful eyes.
"Then what did you mean, Kailin?" she asked.
Kai opened his mouth to say something but couldn't find the words. Viney scoffed and looked away. The hybrid boy groaned as he leaned against the stone wall.
"I didn't want this to happen," he mumbled quietly but it was enough for Viney to hear.
She turned to him confused.
"What?" she asked.
Kai looked up at the ceiling.
"I didn't want this to happen. This is just like middle school," he said.
Viney blinked.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
Kai sighed.
"When I was 13, there was this girl on the cheerleading squad. She wasn't the captain or anything but she was pretty and every single boy in the 8th grade wanted to date her. I don't really interact much with the other kids so when one day in class, she came up to me asking if I wanted to be her boyfriend, I was skeptical because there was no way a girl that pretty would want to go out with the "outcast" of the 8th grade. She looked like she genuinely wanted to so…I agreed," he said.
He then looked at the wall as he clenched his fists.
"Then one day, she thought it'd be a good idea to kiss in front of the whole class. Of course, I didn't see anything wrong so I went along with it but then one of the other kids dumped garbage on us and everyone was all laughing. It turned out to be another prank that was supposed to be for me and the girl was in on it but they didn't tell her she was getting pranked too. I was embarrassed but I felt bad for her as well because she was just an innocent kid who got caught in a war between one kid and the whole class because of me," he said.
Kai ran a hand through his hair as he took a breath.
"What I said wasn't true, V. I don't just see you as a friend. You're kind, you're beautiful, you're strong and caring," he said, smiling.
Kai looked at the ground.
"Who wouldn't want to kiss you? I just..don't want you to get treated differently because of me. You already have everything going great for you and I don't want to ruin that," he said.
His ears twitched as he heard footsteps coming towards him and when he felt a hand grab his, Kai looked up to see Viney in front of him, looking into his eyes. He felt a bit nervous at how intently she was looking at him.
"V?" he asked.
"Kai…close your eyes," she said.
The hybrid boy blinked before doing what she said.
"Okay…no-"
Kai couldn't speak when he felt lips pressed against his. His eyes flew open when he saw that Viney was kissing him! The brown haired girl squeezed his hand while the other moved up to the side of his neck. Kai closed his eyes and kissed her back. The kiss lasted a few minutes before they stopped. They looked at each other with smiles and blushing faces.
"Holy titan…" Kai said, grinning.
Viney giggled. Suddenly the force field disappeared, much to the relief of the two teens.
"Well, that happened," she said.
Kai nodded as they walked out of the tunnel.
"I guess that means we're dating now?" he asked.
Viney grabbed his hand and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Does that answer your question?" she asked.
Kai chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Yep," he said.
Back at the Owl House:
Luz and Amity managed to get out of the basement as Hooty was still sobbing.
"What's going on?" Amity asked.
"I don't know but things always get weird when Hooty's upset," Luz replied.
They both yelped as the ground shook. Up above, a piece of the tower cracked and was now heading towards Luz and Amity. King gasped.
"Luz, Luz, run!" he shouted.
The giant stone fell from the tower. Luz pulled Amity to the ground and used her body to shield her. King struggled in Eda's grip before letting out another sonic scream.
"NO!" King shouted.
The shock wave broke the stone. Luz and Amity let out sighs of relief. Eda looked at King in shock.
"Did you do that?" she asked.
"I-I think I did. Wooh! I've got powers!" King cheered.
Eda flew down to the two girls as Luz helped Amity up.
"Are you two okay?" she asked.
Luz looked at Eda in shock.
"Whoa! Not as okay as you. I've got some questions for later," she said.
The group let out some shouts as Hooty came out of the ground.
"I failed you all! I failed you all!" he cried.
"No, Hooty. You actually weirdly helped me. I'm a badass harpy woman now," Eda said.
"And I've got a sonic screech that I can blow things up with!" King said.
"But I still failed Luz!" Hooty cried.
Eda turned to Luz.
"Luz, what was Hooty trying to do?" she asked.
"And quick before he destroys everything!" King said.
Luz looked at Amity before motioning Eda closer. Eda bent down to her level.
"He was trying to help me ask Amity out," she said.
Eda blinked.
"Woah. Do you wanna?" she asked, smiling.
Luz looked at Amity and nodded while blushing.
"Then do it!" Eda urged.
"Like this?" Luz asked, motioning to a violently sobbing Hooty.
"Good point. King and I will take care of this. You just do what you gotta do," Eda said.
She flew off, grabbing Hooty as she did. Luz took a breath before turning to Amity.
"Amity," Luz said.
Amity looked at her.
"There's something I've been wanting to tell you and I wanted to do in the best way possible but I kind of messed up in the Tunnel of Love and.. Okay, everything is crazy right now and I don't know what my future holds but I do know that it'd be awesome to have you in it…which is why I want to ask you…" Luz said.
She blushed as she tried to find the words before taking a big breath.
"Do you want to go out with me?" Amity blurted.
Luz blinked before laughing.
"No! I was so ready!" she said, smiling.
Amity giggled.
"Sorry! Sorry! You can say it," she said.
Luz took a breath as she grabbed Amity's hands.
"Amity Blight, do you wanna go out with me?" she asked.
Amity smiled.
"Yes!" she said, hugging Luz.
Luz grinned as she hugged her back.
"What the heck did I miss?!" a voice exclaimed.
Luz and Amity turned to see Kai and Viney looking at the damages of the house. Luz noticed the two older kids' interlocked hands and squealed.
"Are you guys together now?!" she asked.
Kai rubbed the back of his head as he grinned.
"Yup. And judging from what I just saw, you finally asked Amity out," he said.
Luz nodded as she hugged Kai tightly.
"We've got girlfriends!" she cheered.
Kai shook his head as he chuckled.
"Congrats," Amity said to Viney.
"You too," Viney said.
Later:
(Hooty's Narration)
"King may not know where he came from, but he's learning more and more about himself every day. Eda can become Harpy Eda now. She still drinks her elixir but she's accepted the Owl Beast as part of her. It's progress! Kai's new girlfriend is helping him with discovering more things about beast keeping and healing while Luz's GF showed her tips and tricks to get more information from that old human's diary. They're all adorable and they deserve the most happiness! I had to promise never to help anyone ever again, but nevertheless I'm a genius!".
Hooty had finished his letter and moved to slip into the mailbox.
"Everything's solved! No more mysteries!" Hooty said.
"I beg your pardon," a voice said.
Hooty looked to see a giant demon with the same skull as King!
"Would you see this finds its way to King Clawthorne?" he asked, placing a black envelope down.
Hooty looked at the letter and gasped when he saw a bug crawl over it.
"Oh, my gosh, a bug!" he exclaimed, eating the bug and the letter!
"Oopsie. Hope that was junk mail," Hooty said, smiling.
(A/N: This has to be my longest chapter yet. Also: Titan Dang It, Hooty!)