Back at the Owl House. Luz, King and Maxwell were in Luz's bedroom. Luz and King were planning ideas for what is a story book as Luz and King were talking about ideas, writing down notes on what to put in the said story and what characters to put in them. Maxwell was silent as he was thinking about how to tell Eda about what he saw in his vision to warn her.
"Hey Maxie, wanna join in on this?" King asked.
They turned towards Maxwell as they saw he wasn't responding. He was deep in thought about Eda and her well-being. What he saw in his vision had him worried.
"Hey Maxie, what's on your mind?" asked Luz.
Maxwell was still unresponsive as the two were worried if something was bothering him. They were about to say something till they heard Eda calling to them.
"Kids! Living room!" called Eda.
Maxwell looked up and responded within an instant. He got up on his feet and walked out the room.
"Oh that Maxie. The only one that can bring him out of his mindset is the one lady that has him love struck. Hard to believe he used to be scared of her." said King.
"Maybe he's growing up." said Luz with a sense of optimism. "I'll be back, we'll figure this out, okay writing buddy?"
Luz walked out of the room and went down the stairs to the living room. There stood Maxwell in the room with Eda as she took one more gaze at the map.
"Eda, do you have the time for anything?" asked Maxwell hopefully.
"Sorry but not at the moment." said Eda putting the map away.
"Hey! What's up boss lady?" said Luz entering the room.
Eda turned to face the two teenagers.
"I'm popping out for a few days to an undisclosed place to do undisclosed things. You're in charge." Eda told them.
"You sure you don't need a hand?" said Maxwell offering to go with her.
"I appreciate the offer but this time, it's something I got to do on my own. Don't worry, I'll be fine." said Eda kindly declining. "Don't ask what I'm doing though, lets just say it's a personal thing."
"You got it." said Luz showing she understood.
"If anyone asks, I'm out doing a favor for a friend." Eda told them as she was leaving.
"Yes ma'am." said Maxwell.
As Eda left and went out the door and closed it behind her. That's when Maxwell let out a sigh and turned to Luz.
"Luz, don't tell anyone this but I'm going to watch Eda's back. I had a vision that something dangerous is up, so I'm going to follow Eda to make sure no harm comes to her." Maxwell told her.
"But she wants to do this alone. Besides, she's a tough lady. She can take on anything." Luz said reassuring him.
"I know, but I want to do my part in keeping her shielded from harm. No one is allowed to touch a woman while I'm around and still breathing." said Maxwell cracking his knuckles. "I really don't want to disobey her but I only want to help her."
Maxwell made a stance with his hands and fingers as he muttered some words in an unknown language and a dark shadow like figure formed next to him and the shadow took the solid form of a person. When it took the form of a solid body is when shadow took the form of Maxwell's appearance. Luz saw that Maxwell had what looked like a clone of himself.
"Wow, talk about double, double, toil and trouble." said Luz amazed.
"Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." said Maxwell and his clone in unison.
The real Maxwell turned to his clone with a serious expression.
"Keep your eye on Luz and King, do not let them out of your sight, keep them safe and protected. Guard them with your life and make sure they behave themselves and get along. Any harm comes to them, Eda will be steaming mad like a steam whistle going off at five in the morning in a farming community. Understood?" Maxwell instructed.
"Yes sir!" said Maxwell's clone giving a salute.
Maxwell nodded and turned to leave the house as he walked out the door and closed it behind them. Luz turned to Maxwell's magical clone as he faced her.
"Are you a clone of his shadow?" asked Luz curiously.
"Yes." said Maxwell's clone.
Meanwhile, somewhere in a forest
A day or two had passed and Eda was walking down a path in a forest which she was following the map she was given as it was still glowing that bright blue colored light. She walked up to what looked like a tall and long series of vines. She reached out and grabbed the vines, pulling them away to reveal a statue that was the statue of a Minotaur. Maxwell followed her and was silent the whole time. His foot steps and his movements were silent but swift. He was in his invisible form.
"No harm comes to my lady." Maxwell told himself.
"Okay, from the Minotaur, I head due North, and with luck, I'll get to the bloom of eternal youth before Lilith!" said Eda with a laugh and snort. "Who's frail now, Emperor Dork?"
Maxwell smiled and fought the urge to laugh when Eda said "Emperor Dork" but his laughter and Eda's laughter was short lived when they both heard a twig snap loudly.
"Someone's following me." said Eda in a low tone.
Eda hid behind the statue while Maxwell was on the alert. If anyone or anything was to harm Eda, he showed he was ready to attack. Eda formed a weapon out of her hand with a blue light that took the form of a huge knife while she drew a reddish orange circle in the air which formed a fire ball to levitate in her free hand. She saw who it was when she leaned in to see a shadow like figure. She summoned her courage and ran towards the figure.
"Spicy toss!" cried Eda.
The shadow like figure came into light and it revealed to be Lilith. Her hair was slightly out of place and a mess as it looked like her clothing had some grape juice stains that could've come from a plant she fell over. She turned to see Eda charging at her. Lilith screamed yet Eda stopped once she saw it was Lilith. She had her weapons disappear in a puff of smoke.
"Lilly?" said Eda surprised.
"Edalyn? Ugh, and of course you would be here just to be a nuisance. Why don't you go home and rest, wouldn't want you breaking a hip." insulted Lilith.
Maxwell tried to hold back his anger towards Lilith when he heard her insult Eda.
"Sorry sister, I'm stronger than you think. I'm here to save the bloom of eternal youth from the likes of you." said Eda as she suddenly took off running. "And I'm gonna get there before you!"
"Aah! No you won't!" said Lilith chasing after her in a panic.
Maxwell took off running towards them as he tried to choke his laughter down from their odd yet surprisingly humorous sibling rivalry.
"Why is their sibling rivalry so funny." Maxwell told himself.
As Eda, Lilith and Maxwell ran in the same direction they took off in. Lilith was lagging behind Eda in speed. Eda proved to be faster than Lilith on her feet. Maxwell kept his distance as he didn't want to be discovered. All he wanted to do was help Eda and prevent the person he saw in his vision from hurting the lady he loves. But he also sensed a fourth presence was near as he saw a large shadow pass by.
"Not my lady, you monster." Maxwell told himself again.
"Ha! Doesn't this remind you of how we used to race to the kitchen, Lilly?" laughed Eda.
Eda quickly stopped running as she didn't see Lilith anywhere without warning.
"Lilly?" said Eda looking around.
Both Eda and Maxwell looked up to see where Lilith was. Eda gasped as they saw Lilith was covered in what looked like web like bandages while hanging from the claws of a giant spider/crab-like monster. Lilith was unable to speak as the webs had her mouth covered. The monster let out loud and vicious hiss.
"Lilly!" cried Eda.
Eda quickly drew a bigger red circle in the air and it formed a huge fire ball that she tossed at the monster which the fire ball exploded like an incendiary grenade. It sent the monster flying at such a long distance that it was miles away from them by now.
Lilith fell but a large bush cushioned her landing, preventing her from getting hurt or injured when she landed. Eda came over and pulled her up, ripping the webs off her.
"Allyoop!" said Eda pulling her sister up on her feet.
"Ugh, thank you Edalyn! I wasn't certain that you'd save me." said Lilith as she showed a guilty look on her face.
"Stow it! Yeah we may fight, but you're still my sister. Besides, if someone's gonna be putting you down, it's gonna be me." said Eda lightly nudging her elbow against Lilith's shoulder.
Eda gave a playful slap to Lilith's back which got her to let out a groan but she gave a small smile. Maxwell saw this and he felt like this was a side of them he never saw before. He usually sees them never getting along, he mostly sees and hears Eda saying nothing good about Lilith or seeing and hearing Eda make jokes at Lilith's expense. He started to smile as he found this softer side of them to be rather sweet.
Lilith turned her face towards a different direction and saw what looked like a purple light coming out of a water fountain from a distance. It was about ten feet away from them both.
"Is that?" Lilith began.
They walked forwards and got closer. They saw that the purple light was a beautiful blooming flower and it was what they both were searching for. As Maxwell was sticking close by them, he sensed something wasn't right.
"It can't be that easy, can it?" Maxwell told himself.
Maxwell knew there was three of them. Eda, Lilith and himself, but he sensed a fourth person's brainwave activity and their heart beat. He didn't see or hear where this fourth person was yet.
"The bloom of eternal youth!" said Eda with a grin.
As there was a twinkle of excitement in Eda's golden eyes, she looked at Lilith as she was distracted by the beauty of the said magical flower. Eda took her chance and pushed Lilith out of the way, knocking her to the ground as she ran for the magical plant.
"Alright back off, that baby's mine." said Eda feeling victorious.
Lilith got up and growled as she was on her feet. She had an annoyed expression on her face.
"Why are you always like this?" said Lilith with an annoyed growl.
"Because Lilith, you think I'm just some tired old biddy. Oh but I'm more than that." Eda replied.
She formed a gold circle around the flower and it shot a light at the stem of the plant. The circle disappeared as Eda took hold of the flower in one hand.
"And with the bloom of eternal youth's power, I'll show you!" Eda gloated.
It was looking like Eda was victorious in this battle but than without warning, the flower vanished in a blue light. Leaving both of them surprised.
"What the-" Eda began.
The three of them saw a shadow of a person above the stone fountain standing on top of it, laughing maniacally.
"I know you must be confused. The bloom of eternal youth- dead? What if I told you the bloom never existed at all! And now that I have led you to my nest, I'll suck all the life out of you to satisfy my unending hunger!" laughed the figure.
The figure turned out to be the salesman that sold them a copy of the map from the market place. Eda and Lilith were surprised yet shocked but they were appearing to be subtle about it.
"He scammed us. Can you believe he scammed us?" said Lilith.
"I thought there was a 50/50 chance going in. Hard not to admire the tenacity though." said Eda with a grin.
"And yet you forget that I'll suck all the life out of you to satisfy my unending hunger!" said the salesman in a very crazed tone with a laugh.
A rage kicked into Maxwell as he popped his neck.
"That's not gonna happen!" Maxwell shouted out loud.
Eda and Lilith froze for a minute and they saw that the salesman was distracted till what looked like an invisible force pulled him over at a very fast pace, he levitated passed the two witches and started towards Maxwell till the two witches saw that the salesman was looking like he was hovering at least three feet off the ground.
"You saw that happen too, right?" asked Lilith surprised.
Eda nodded once and they both saw that who ever was holding onto the salesman was reappearing in front of them all as it turned out they saw that Maxwell held the salesman in one hand with a solid grip.
"Don't you ever put your hands on a lady! You understand me!" said Maxwell sharply.
"Whoa there, lets calm down young man." the salesman said attempting to calm him.
"You mess with her, you mess with me! A man never lays a harmful hand on a lady. I don't like how you treat people or how you treat a lady." Maxwell ranted. "You see her, she's my lady. If you so much as touch her, so help me I'll tear you a new one bigger than grand canyon. Now leave these ladies be or I'll kick your ass or kick you where the sun don't shine!"
The salesman was left wide eyed with shock. Lilith was left shocked, surprised and wide eyed but Eda was left smiling and feeling a strong sense of pride towards Maxwell. The young male human teenager dropped the salesman on the ground and he slowly got up with a devious grin.
"Don't like it when a man disrespects a lady, huh?" said the salesman chuckling.
The salesman got up and faced him.
"I'll show some mercy if you just leave us be." warned Maxwell.
"A southerner's accent? Oh my, I hear sucking the life out of a country bumpkin is much sweeter to the taste like strawberry pie." the salesman chuckled.
Maxwell heard that word again, that word that really makes him irate. His face was burning red with rage.
"What did you call me, asshole?" shouted Maxwell.
"He's so gonna get it now." chuckled Eda.
"Oh no." said the salesman realizing what he just did.
"I'm gonna knock you out!" Maxwell told him.
Maxwell used his foot to give a swift kick to the salesman's crotch area which caused the salesman to groan in pain, knocking the breath out of him a little.
"Oh momma!" choked the salesman.
"Mama said knock you out!" said Maxwell powerfully.
Maxwell landed one powerful punch to the salesman's face and send him flying three feet away and he landed on the ground.
"Suck on that." said Maxwell cracking his knuckles.
"Oh yes, I'll take a huge burger with plenty of meat, cheese and bacon and a keg full of cola." said the salesman dizzily.
Maxwell's sense of confidence was cut short when he heard Eda clearing her throat loudly to get his attention. He was blushing as he turned to see Eda.
"How much of that did you see?" asked Maxwell nervously.
"Everything from that's not gonna happen." answered Eda. "Front and center, now."
Maxwell walked towards Eda and obeyed her as he became submissive. He stopped once he was within hand shaking distance of her.
"Eda, please don't be mad. I only followed you because I had a vision that jerk was going to harm you, or both of you when I saw him saying he was going to suck the life out of you. So I followed you to make sure that didn't happen." said Maxwell confessing the truth.
"I see. When did you have that vision?" asked Eda.
"When we were at the book fair. I also was eavesdropping on the conversation that he had with Lilith and her guard, and his conversation with you at the book fair. I used an invisibility spell so no one could see me and I used my mind to listen on the whole thing since I knew I wouldn't be able to hear from a distance." Maxwell continued telling her.
"And how long have you been following me?" asked Eda.
"Since the minute to left the house. I used a bit of my shadow to create a clone of myself to look after Luz and King just in case if they needed someone else or more to watch them." Maxwell told her. "I know that I shouldn't done what I did and I know that what you were doing was none of my business. I just didn't want any harm coming to you. I would've told you sooner but you seemed too preoccupied and I didn't want to bother you."
Hearing Maxwell admit what he did to Eda had her feeling like she had no rage, no anger, no frustration towards him. She felt like he was doing what he did for the right reasons. She placed her hand on Maxwell's cheek to comfort him of any fear or disappointment.
"Maxie, I'll admit, what you did may have been dangerous but I see that you did what you did for the right reasons. And you admitting the truth immediately was a good idea. I can't be mad at you for that." said Eda with a grin. "Also, the way you socked it to that leech there was so epic."
Maxwell's fear and disappointment vanished instantly as Eda leaned in and planted a kiss to Maxwell's cheeks and his forehead. This left him blushing and smiling with a chuckle.
"As I've said, I'd do anything for you." said Maxwell feeling better.
"That's my little man." said Eda proudly.
As Maxwell felt a sense of peace, the three of them turned to look at the salesman that Maxwell knocked out.
"Well, we wrecked this chump with the strong hands of my sweetheart, but I guess the bloom of eternal youth isn't real." said Eda shaking her head.
"Well, if it makes any difference, I don't consider you to be a tired old bitty." said Lilith kindly.
"Really?" said Eda with a grin.
"If you were, you'd be much easier to catch." said Lilith smugly.
"Eda's not a tired, frail, old bitty." Maxwell chimed in.
Lilith looked towards a stoic Maxwell.
"She's the most beautiful lady I've ever met. No matter the age, she doesn't need some magical plant that grants eternal youth to the one that has it, she's still the young and beautiful goddess I fell in love with." said Maxwell shedding a tear.
Eda was filled with such joy, such pride and such inspirational love from Maxwell's words. She pulled him in her arms and planted her soft, full lips to his in a passionate kiss. This left Lilith not just feeling grossed out but a tinge of jealously inside, even if she didn't show it.
"Oh brother." groaned Lilith.
Eda eventually pulled her big lips off him in a loud pop. The loving couple looked towards Lilith as a thought crossed Eda's mind.
"You're gonna cart me away to the coven now, are you?" said Eda annoyed.
A look of sympathy spread across Lilith's face which she didn't show it all the time.
"Not now, because I want to give you a chance to join on your own!" said Lilith softly.
Eda looked at her with surprise. Was Lilith letting her go? This was a side of her she never saw.
"Join me in the Emperor's Coven. He could even heal your curse." Lilith suggested kindly.
Lilith held out her hand as if to shake Eda's hand. Maxwell had a serious expression on his face as if disapproving of such a decision. Maxwell has been with Eda for a while and his sense of love for her is powerfully strong and he was always on Eda's side, especially with the decision of Eda not wanting to join a coven. Eda shook her head.
"No, I'll heal it on my own terms, I don't wanna owe him anything. That, and I can't leave my man. He needs me as much as I need him. Ether way, I might find a way to heal my curse on my own, or my man here might find out before I do." said Eda taking hold of Maxwell's hand.
Maxwell took hold of Eda's hand and he smiled, feeling better in knowing that Eda made the right choice and for choosing to stay with him as he wants to stay with her.
"Does this mean you and him are, you know?" said Lilith looking curious. "Together?"
Eda smiled.
"Does this answer your question?" said Eda giggling.
Eda yet again kissed Maxwell on his lips, his cheeks, his forehead and even kissed him on his chest where his heart was located. This left him blushing as deep as possible with a chuckling grin. Lilith mentally gagged at the sight of them kissing.
"I'd say something negative about this but this time, I won't." said Lilith showing restraint.
"Lilith." said Maxwell. "If that ruffian causes you any trouble, please don't hurt him any worse than I did. Just put him in the sleeper hold. Only if and when he lays a hand on you, than you can sock it to him."
Lilith blushed from the suggestion. Maxwell completely hated Lilith for what she tried to do to him the past few times they crossed paths but this time, he offered her some advice. This left her a bit confused but oddly glad to know.
"That's oddly good to know." said Lilith.
"But if you do insult Eda again and I hear about it. I'd suggest you run." Maxwell advised.
"I figured." said Lilith.
Eda got out her staff as if getting ready to fly off.
"Catch you later sis." said Eda kindly.
"Not if I catch you first." said Lilith kindly making a joke.
Eda's staff levitated in the air and both Eda and Maxwell got on it and flew off in the distance.
"I'll see you around." said Eda.
As Eda and Maxwell flew off. Lilith saw Eda kiss Maxwell on the lips and cheeks again while he would kiss her back. Lilith felt her tinge of jealously coming back as she let out a sigh.
"Why does he prefer Edalyn. What does she have that I don't that makes him prefer her?" Lilith told herself.
It was already completely nightfall as Eda and Maxwell made it back to the Owl House and made a safe landing on their feet.
"The way you kicked that bozo in his crotch. Lets hope he doesn't plan on having kids afterwards." joked Eda with a laugh.
"I can hear the break up song the ladies are going to be singing about him." joked Maxwell.
They both started to laugh as they started to sing a funny song that was directed at the salesman that they gave a beating to earlier.
"This crazy salesman was short, had a long neck and he turned out to be sick. So he tried to get a date, what a horrible fate. But ladies still greet him by kicking him in the dick"
They both raised their foot in their air playfully and laughed.
"Right in the nuts, ha!" laughed Eda.
They both managed to calm themselves of their laughter after a few minutes. Than they walked inside the house as they closed the door behind them. Both Luz and King were laying on the couch to rest but were woken up by the door closing as they let out a yawn. Maxwell's magical clone saw them and Maxwell snapped his fingers as the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.
When the magical clone of Maxwell became part of him inside again. He saw the events of what Luz and King went through while him and Eda were gone by seeing the images flash through his mind. He saw that they were having conflict but he felt better knowing that they reconciled. He did see images of his clone giving a beat down to a male lizard adult with green skin when he saw that this green male lizard who was a book publisher tried to hurt Luz and King and that his clone only gave the male lizard a beat down for trying to hurt Luz and King. His mind stopped having images flashing inside his head afterwards. He snapped back to reality.
"Hey you two, woof." said Eda looking tired.
Eda stretched her back which made a cracking and popping sound as she popped some joints. Maxwell shook a bit from the sounds of it.
"That was a rough couple days." said Eda.
"Yeah, I'll say." said Luz in agreement.
As Eda walked over to the couch and sat down. Maxwell raised a hand and a large and warm red blanket and a large pillow came from the exit of the living room that lead from the hallway. Maxwell was levitating them as he had the blanket wrap around Eda's body while the pillow laid behind her body, providing a comfortable cushion for her back and the back of her head. Maxwell even snapped his fingers and Eda's high-heeled boots gently pulled themselves off and her feet felt comfortable. Eda felt comfortable and at ease. She would've tried to show her independence about this but she was too comfortable to argue.
"This feels nice." said Eda in a relax tone.
"Eda, I know you don't want us to know what was going on from what you were doing but how did it go?" asked Luz curiously.
"Well, I was searching for what I was looking for but it turned out to be a dead end. But at least Maxie was there to take some of the weight off my back." said Eda giving Maxwell a wink.
Maxwell winked back at her. Eda saw what looked like a book on the coffee table near the couch.
"Nothing a bit of apple blood and a good book can't mend." said Eda looking relieved.
A look of wide eyed panic showed itself on Luz and King's faces.
"Books?" said Luz.
"Nope, I don't know nothing about that." said King playing dumb.
"We hate books. Wow, look at the time!" said Luz changing the subject.
"What's a book? Good night!" said King in a panic.
Both Luz and King ran out of the room and down the hallway. They apparently went to Luz's room to get some rest. Both Eda and Maxwell were both taken aback by this.
"I think we'll worry about it later. It's late and I'll talk to them about it later on tomorrow." Maxwell informed.
"Good idea." said Eda.
Eda saw the book on the coffee table and was curious as she picked it up and saw that it had the title "Ruler's Reach: Enter The Bad Boy" with a picture of what looked like King in a hood while wielding an axe. She turned the book around to the back cover and saw a picture of King wearing a blood hoodie shirt and his name was below the picture. She looked surprised yet curious about this.
"Huh? What the-" began Eda.
"Girl, you do not want to know." came a male's voice.
They saw that it was a typewriter that was green with fangs where the paper would come out from. It looked like it had a large tongue while Maxwell looked at it with bewilderment.
"Did that typewriter just talk?" asked Maxwell.
"Yes." said the typewriter.
Maxwell was briefly stunned by this.
"Books coming to life, books and typewriters that talk in a magical world?" said Maxwell. "As long as they don't bite, I'm good."
Maxwell walked over to the other couch that was on the other side of the room and he laid down on the couch that was on the other side of the room. He fell fast asleep while Eda looked at him with a smile. She remembered how Maxwell gave the salesman a beat down for trying to harm her, or even a lady and she remembered that he was being a sweet gentlemen for helping her relax when she was tired.
"That's my Maxie." whispered Eda.
As Eda would rest on the couch she was on. Maxwell was fast asleep and he suddenly had an idea in his mind, an idea that he thought of that could help find out about healing curses and there was one place he knew he could go to find out about it. The Library.