Eda put breakfast down on the table in the morning. "I hope you guys are hungry!"
"I am!" Luz exclaimed.
"That's good!" Eda sat down at the table. "I tried to make it so you could eat it, Luz."
"Thanks!" Luz said, shoving a forkful in her mouth. "Mm! Good!"
Hunter poked at his with his fork. "Not hungry?" Eda checked.
"Hm?" Hunter looked up from his plate. Eda tapped the food with her fork. "Oh, right." Hunter shoved a fork full in his mouth.
"So, Luz," Eda said. "I had a great idea for you to spend the day out of school." She glanced at Hunter. "And to make him feel better."
"What is it, Eda?" Luz asked, excited. "Are we going on a mission? Are we going to dangerous depths to get you something?"
Eda laughed. "Not quite. I figured, you haven't seen the creatures we have here. There is a zoo nearby that you could visit for a while. It might get the kid's mind off of...whatever he's moping about, and you can see all the cool creatures we have here!" She leaned in closer to Luz. "Plus, I have a few things to attend to," she whispered.
"Ah, got it," Luz said, nodding.
"I feel like I'm missing something," Hunter said, speaking for the first time.
"Nah, just going to the zoo," Luz said.
"The zoo?" Hunter checked. "Why are we going to the zoo?"
"To cheer you up!" Luz said.
"That, and I have stuff to do," Eda replied. "I need you kids out of the house when I do it. Now that I think about it, you should bring King too. He hasn't been to the zoo yet."
"I get to go to the zoo?" King asked.
"Yes you do, King," Eda remarked.
"Yay!"
"I could take them," Camila offered.
"Great!" Eda said.
"I'm going to invite Gus, Willow and Amity too!" Luz cheered.
"Hmm..." Eda thought for a second. "I think I can scrape together enough snails for that." Eda reached into her pocket and pulled out a few snails. "That's not enough."
Eda gobbled down the rest of her food, stood up from the chair, and walked over to the couch. She reached her hand inside the coshins and pulled out more snails. "King, do you know where I put my wallet?" Eda asked.
"I saw it on your nest," King said, putting Francois on the table after Luz helped him up. Eda walked away for a minute, made a ruckus upstairs, then came back down with her wallet. She threw some snails on the table. "There! That should afford it!" Luz counted up the snails. "Fifty?! That's so much!"
"No it isn't," Eda said. "I got more where that came from. Bounty hunting is in good season right now."
"Can we go now?" King asked.
"Finish your breakfast first," Camila said.
"Weh!" King cried, stabbing the food with his fork.
After thirty minutes, Gus, Willow and Amity walked through the door. "We're going to the zoo?" Gus checked, excited.
"Yep!" Luz said.
"I love the zoo!" Willow cheered.
"I went a really long time ago," Amity said.
"Any good creatures there?" Luz asked.
"We have these skeletons of stonesleepers," Gus said.
"I like the ratworms," Willow said.
"Either way, it sounds fun!" King said. "Can I rule any of them?"
"I bet you could if you tried hard enough," Amity said.
King ran over to the table, grabbed Francois and met the group again. "Can Francois come too?"
"Of course!" Luz said. "Francois is a friend too!"
"We're going to need tickets for him too," King stated.
"Want to know a secret?" Eda asked, bending down to King. "He can get in free," she whispered.
King squealed. "Everyone ready?" Camila asked, waking up to the group with her purse. She grabbed the snails off of the table and placed them into her purse. "Okay, I didn't hear any objections, so let's go!" Luz pulled Hunter outside of the Owl House to join the group.
"Why do I have to come?" Hunter asked.
"You need it," Luz said. "You look miserable."
Hunter just huffed but stayed with the group. Eventually, they made it to the gates of the zoo. "This looks like the zoo," Camila said, looking at the gates. She walked up to the elf behind the stand. "Seven, please!"
"Okay, one second." The elf bent down to the inside of the stand, and pulled out five tickets. He punched a hole in each of them and handed them to her. "Have fun."
"Thank you, sir!" Camila said, handing the tickets to each of the kids. "Hold on to these, please."
"Okay!" King said, putting it in his collar.
The group entered the gates, which opened once the elf pushed a button. "Woah," Luz said, spinning. "This. Is. AWESOME!"
"There are so many animals here!" Willow said.
Inside, there are large fields and cages, each housing animals and demons of every kind. Bug demons sat and flitted inside of large glass with trees, beast demons either sat inside cages, or, if they were big enough, inside the fields that the zookeepers put the lions into back in her world.
"That building over there has the stonesleeper skeletons," Gus said, pointing at a large building.
"We'll have to check it all!" Luz exclaimed, barely keeping in her excitement.
"Let it out, mi amora," Camila said, smiling.
Luz pulled her hands close to her face and squealed. "Okay, I'm good."
Camila snapped pictures at every animal they visited. She was happy to see their happy faces. Hunter didn't seem pleased until they reached the ratworms and the stonesleeper, but at least he cheered up. She was happy to see them all having fun. Even King was having a blast.
After the tour of the zoo, Camila decided to take the kids to eat out. She wasn't sure what her and Luz could eat. Thankfully, Luz has experience to tell which foods are edible. They stopped by a burger place, which King stated that he ate there with Steve.
In fact, Steve is the person behind the register. "Steve!" Luz cheered.
"Hey!" Steve smiled. "There's a friendly face!" He scanned the group. "King! Nice to see you, man!" King jumped on top of the counter. "You work here now?" Hunter asked.
"Hunter! How's life keeping you?"
"Eh, been better. Nice to see you here though."
They chatted for a little while before the manager told them to order. They conversed at the table, and then Steve joined them for lunch, which made them all happier.
By the time they returned home, Eda was asleep on the couch. Camila and Luz put some pictures together with Willow's help, adding more to her picture album. Luz was happy to see Hunter smiling again. Ever since Flapjack saved Hunter...he hasn't been the same. It's nice to see him smile again.
