Days had passed and it was a sunny day out in the market place. At Eda's stand, things were a bit slow. Eda and Maxwell were at the stand that they sat at. They were selling what appeared to be more of what Eda usually sells, human items from the human realm.
"Luz and King sure are taking a while to use the bathroom." said Eda breaking a long silence.
"You did warn them about having a little bit of too much water. Hopefully, anyone who poses a threat will be wise to leave them alone." said Maxwell remembering something Eda said.
Eda just thought of something that crossed her mind which made her blush slightly or had her thinking of other possibilities to what could be taking Luz and King so long.
"Makes me wonder if someone is causing them trouble out there or if they're being bothered by some creep." Eda guessed.
"If they were in hot water, I'd be able to sense their brainwave activity from here and I'd be able to track them down by hearing their brainwaves and their thoughts from a distance like a directional microphone." said Maxwell trying to reassure her.
"What's a directional microphone?" asked Eda looking stumped.
"It's a device that humans use. It's a handheld, long-range sound amplification system. It can be used to penetrate walls and soundproof barriers in order to listen in on sounds and conversations from far away. Think of it like an eavesdropping device." Maxwell explained. "You've be able to hear someone's conversation from a distance with it, without getting anywhere near the people who are speaking. Comes in handy for those who use it."
Eda would think for a minute and from what Maxwell explained to her about the device he spoke of made her feel like it's something that she could use when hearing about anyone planning to do something harmful towards her, King, Luz, Maxwell or anyone she cares about. She even felt like it could be used for a bit of mischief which left a smile on her face.
"Sounds like something I could use. Imagine the conversations I can listen to for those who try to hurt me, you, King or Luz. That, and it could be used for a bit of fun. By fun, I mean mischief." Eda chuckled.
"You're such a lovable bad girl." Maxwell chuckled with a smile.
"You know me all too well, big boy." Eda replied.
They both chuckled about their little brief humorous moment. Maxwell suddenly looked around and his smile faded a bit till he started to notice that no one at the market place was selling anything that they usually do. There were no stands that they usually saw people at. Maxwell seem to notice that the usual people at the market place that do the same as they do were not there nor was their stands anywhere in sight.
"Eda, I hate to bring bad news but do you notice that the other stands and people that we usually see selling some things we do are not here?" said Maxwell taking notice.
Eda looked around and she saw that Maxwell was right. She didn't see the usual people or their stands that they normally see when they're selling trinkets of other sorts.
"You're right. It does look that way. No wonder it's been slow today." said Eda noticing the surroundings.
"Like a turtle walking a mile." said Maxwell sadly.
As they took notice to their surroundings. That's when they saw a young male demon pass by while he was reading what looked like a green colored book. Eda was about to grab hold of the male demon but Maxwell intervened.
"I'll handle this." said Maxwell to Eda through his mind.
Maxwell waved to the male demon who stopped to face him.
"Sir, what's going on here? The usual people who do business in the market place are not here today. Could you tell us if something is going on, please?" asked Maxwell kindly out loud.
The male demon was silent but he pointed in the direction he walked away from. They turned to see where he was pointing at and they saw what looked like a book fair nearby. Maxwell turned to the male demon.
"Before you go, did you see a young female human and a young male canine demon anywhere? We're waiting for them and they haven't come back yet." Maxwell kindly asked.
"Hey guys!" came an eager female's voice.
Maxwell jumped a bit as he was a bit startled. He turned to see it was Luz and King. He felt relieved to see them but wasn't expecting a surprised jump start.
"Sorry for the startle, Maxie." Luz said kindly.
"It's alright, at least I'm still alive, right?" said Maxwell showing optimism. "So what's up?"
"There's a book fair going on!" said Luz happily.
They saw Luz leading the way as they walked with her. Luz was like an eager little kid at a convention that had the possible chance of meeting famous celebrities or famous writers.
"An actual book fair! Where books come to life!" said Luz looking excited.
A red book from one of the stands at the book fair fell over and it opened on it's own as if to speak.
"Hello." the book spoke.
Seeing the book speak left Maxwell and Luz surprised. Maxwell was still getting used to the strange things about the Boiling Isles. Seeing a book that spoke wasn't what he expected.
"Did that book just talk?" said Maxwell with a shiver.
"Oh yes it did." King replied.
"Don't worry, Maxie. Even if a book can talk, they won't bite. They don't got teeth. Worst anyone could get is a paper cut." Eda reassured.
Maxwell felt at ease hearing Eda's words. He snapped his fingers and the book that fell over levitated up into the air, he blew a bit of air from his mouth and it seemed to help in dusting the book off clean like he was dusting it. The book was looking like it was back to it's pristine condition. He levitated the book to sit back down on the stand it fell from.
"That's one way to clean a book." said King.
"Better than my first choice which would've involved paper towels and a bottle of liquid cleaner. Too messy." said Maxwell.
As they explored the book fair. They saw a green banner that read "Book Fair" in gold lettering. A coal colored snake was on it with the picture of a book on both ends of the banner. Eda looked a bit bored from seeing such a place while King was a bit confused. King probably never been to a book fair before and it looked new to him.
"A fair without rides?" said King looking stumped.
"To be honest, not all fairs have rides." said Maxwell being honest.
"You've been to a book fair before, have you?" asked King curiously.
They stopped. Maxwell appeared hesitant to answer as Eda, King and Luz looked at him as if they sensed he was having a personal problem.
"Once, but it was short lived." answered Maxwell.
"Short lived?" said Luz curiously.
"It was short lived because while it was outdoors. They didn't count on it to rain like cats and dogs. So it got postponed. Which I'll admit, that sucks." explained Maxwell as he just went wide eyed and realized he let one of them words slip.
"Sorry." Maxwell apologized.
"It's alright, Maxie. It's just a slip up. I've heard truck drivers say worse." said Luz showing compassion.
Luz placed her hand on Maxwell's shoulder to reassure him and it worked. He looked right at her sympathetic face.
"How much worse did a truck driver say?"asked Maxwell curiously.
"Lets just say that it's words not even my mom would approve of." answered Luz.
"I'll take your word for it." said Maxwell relieved.
Luz pulled Maxwell in for a hug as she smiled. Maxwell blushed a bit but felt comfortable since he found Luz's lovable personality to be infectious.
"That's our good boy." said Luz encouragingly.
Luz released her arms from him and started to walk off to explore more of the book fair while she pulled Maxwell along who was wide eyed with a mix of surprise and excitement.
"Come on, Maxie! This will be fun." said Luz excitably.
"Careful there, Luz. You'll pull my arm off." chuckled Maxwell.
Eda looked on at Maxwell and Luz as she felt a sense of peace about them but she did stare at Maxwell's butt which left her blushing. King smiled and giggled.
"Oh Eda." chuckled King.
"What are you laughing at?" Eda asked.
"I see you were staring at Maxie's butt." teased King.
"No I'm not." said Eda annoyed.
"I'm only teasing, girl." giggled King. "I know you and Maxie are now together. A shy, kindly human falling in love with a confident, powerful witch. You know what that sounds like?"
"A romantic love story." said Eda and King in unison.
"That's the one." said King pointing it out.
"Hey King, you wanna ride in my hoodie!" called out Luz.
King turned towards Luz and his tail began to wag in excitement.
"Ooohoohoohoo!" chuckled King.
King caught up with Luz as she scooped him up in her arms and King got inside the hood of Luz's hoodie. As three went to explore further. Eda was exploring other parts of the book fair as she had two things on her mind. One of them was Maxwell's muscles and his butt while the other was her thinking about pick-pocketing some unsuspecting person.
"Hey Maxie, were you ever a big reader?" asked Luz curiously.
"I got a specific preference in books. Depending on the genre." answered Maxwell.
"Do you remember your favorite book? If you had one that was considered a favorite, that is." asked Luz looking interested.
Maxwell gave it a minute to think and a book that he loved came to mind in an instant.
"There was one. It was "The Dead" it was about a young man from the state of Georgia who was a small town sheriff who got hurt in an accident and he was in a coma for about a month. Than he emerges from his coma and finds out the world has been overrun by zombies due to a mysterious disease dubbed the "Wildfire" virus. The virus would be said to turn anyone into a zombie if a zombie bites or scratches the living. Which he goes in search of his family as there turns out to be a safe zone or more somewhere in the next state. Which of course once he finds his family and the safe zone known as Haven. He begins to become a great leader in helping more survivors that haven't become zombies yet. But they find out that the zombies are not the only threat they face as they find out there's hostile humans that seem to be more dangerous than the dead. The young sheriff was everything I wanted to be at the time. Brave, confident, a hero, friend and mentor to so many people. No matter how bad things got, him and his people always found a way out of their sticky situations Some heroes fell in battle, villains were defeated." explained Maxwell. "It was a great story."
"Sounds like a cool story." said Luz looking amazed.
"Oh? Sounds like there was death, blood and destruction." said King eagerly.
Maxwell looked at King as he could tell that he was thrilled by the three details he described.
"Just out of curiosity. How did they kill the zombies?" asked King.
"You sure you want to know? It's kind of graphic." Maxwell warned.
"Let me guess, they had to destroy the zombie's brain?" Luz guessed.
Maxwell let out a surprised cough as if shocked that Luz guessed the truth.
"Did you read the story too? That's just how they killed the zombies." asked Maxwell surprised.
"I didn't really read it. But in every film that involved zombies, they always shown that the only way the zombies stay dead permanently is by getting them in the head where their brains are located." Luz answered.
Maxwell didn't expect Luz to be into some books or films that involved such genres of entertainment that involved what they're talking about which left him surprised to know.
"Luz, forgive me for saying this but I didn't know you were into that sort of genre. I guess I'm just used to seeing you as, you know. Sweet, innocent Luz." said Maxwell blushing.
"Oh I am still that sweet little girl you, King and Eda know and love. But sometimes I do get into some scarier genres when it comes to books and films. Not to worry though." said Luz kindly.
Luz placed her hand on Maxwell's chest as if to show a sense of trust to reassure him.
"I'm still that sweet little girl you've come to know and love." Luz told him.
Maxwell did feel better in knowing this as he was afraid that Luz had a dark side which he could see not just from looking at her but from scanning her mind that she didn't have a dark side at all. He saw nothing but pleasant, happy memories in Luz's head.
"That's good to know. Just promise me you won't go towards the dark side when it comes to human nature or humanity itself." Maxwell told her hopefully.
"You got nothing to worry about from there." said Luz.
Maxwell felt reassure to hear this but his moment of optimism was short lived as he was sensing Eda's thoughts and he could sense that her mind was on a worrying subject.
"Another wrinkle! The curse is quickening!"
"Oh Christ." Maxwell said out loud.
"What?" asked King looking concerned.
Maxwell showed a stoic expression.
"King, you look out for Luz. I got to find Eda, I'm sensing she'll need some assistance. Stick together, don't let each other out of the other's sight. Understand?" Maxwell commanded.
"You got it." said King with a salute.
The young male human took off running in the opposite direction as he was really good at dodging anyone or anything that came his way. Maxwell managed to make it to where Eda was but he stopped. He sensed another familiar mind's thoughts nearby and he also saw who that person was. From a distance, he saw Lilith with a guard from the Emperor's Coven. He saw that Eda was hiding somewhere and looked like she was eavesdropping on Lilith. Maxwell had an idea to make things easier for himself so he can find out what's going on.
"Kakusareta." Maxwell muttered.
Maxwell suddenly faded into the background till he was showing he turned invisible like the wind. He walked over close enough to hear what Lilith was saying to what looked like a male demon. The male demon was a market salesman that wore what looked like traditional African clothing with brown fur, pointed ears, thick red mane like hair on the sides of his head and he had a tail.
Maxwell was at a close enough distance to hear them with his ears but he was also using his mind to hear their words a bit louder and he heard what sounded like a case of espionage to him.
"You, lacky." said Lilith. "Do you have the item we discussed?"
"Oh! Yes, right here." said the salesman.
He saw the salesman reach inside a drawer at the desk or stand he owns and he pulled out what looked like a rolled up piece of paper. He gave it to Lilith as she opened the paper and viewed what looked like a glowing map that glowed a bright blue color.
"This is excellent. A map to the bloom of eternal youth. I think the emperor will be very pleased." said Lilith with a grin.
"Ma'am, shouldn't we be searching for the Owl Lady to join the coven? Remember that whole plan." said the male guard.
Lilith let out a soft laugh.
"My sister's curse has left her frail - she'll still be here when we get back." Lilith insulted.
Hearing that insult that Lilith directed at Eda not only annoyed Eda herself but it had Maxwell feeling the urge to scream at Lilith till she lost her hearing but he refrained for now.
"This comes first, it's for the emperor after all." said Lilith placing the map away.
The guard placed his hands on the books that were on the salesman's desk and he pushed them off to the ground.
"Yeah! All hail the emperor!" said the guard powerfully.
"Good one Steve." said Lilith patting the guard on his head.
"Shoulder pats for Steve!" said the guard.
As the guard and Lilith walked off. That's when Maxwell saw Eda come out of her hiding spot.
"Hey bub, what'd you sell my prissy sister?" asked Eda.
"Oh! It's a map to the bloom of eternal youth. A rare flower that only grows once a millennia. Like the name says, it gives eternal youth to whomever holds it." explained the salesman.
Eda smiled as an idea formed in her mind.
"Interesting." said Eda. "So Lilith wants to nab this power for the Emperor, huh. Well, won't she be surprised when I get there first and get it for myself! Hah! That'll show her who's frail."
The salesman smiled as if he was hoping to hear her say that.
"Well, we'll see won't we." said the salesman handing her another map. "Can't go without a map of course."
Eda looked at the map as it too was glowing bright blue light. Maxwell saw this and he looked at the salesman as he could tell from the looks of him that he was up to something.
"What's he up to?" Maxwell whispered.
Maxwell got his answer when he froze and his eyes turned bright white as he suddenly saw an image of the salesman with an evil grin and looking determined in a crazy, manic expression.
"I'll suck all the life out of you to satisfy my unending hunger!" the salesman said maniacally.
Maxwell's eyes turned back to their original color as he came out of his trance and blinked twice. He got up and felt a sense of rage kick into him.
"He lays one hand or finger on her. I'm gonna knock him out." said Maxwell popping his neck.