At the Owl House, both Eda and King were the only ones at the residence while Hooty was taking a nap as his eyes were closed and he was softly hooting in his sleep.
Both Eda and King were in the kitchen and both were staring at each other, not even blinking as if it looked like they were having a staring contest.
"You got to blink some time, you little furrball." said Eda jokingly.
"You dared me to do this staring contest when we kept making jokes at each other, loser isn't allowed to make jokes about anything or anyone for a week." argued King looking determined.
"You're the one who kept making jokes and teasing about me and my man making out with tongue." Eda argued back.
"You made that bet with me." King continued.
They kept staring at each other as they didn't blink, not once, they were at it for at least no more than ten minutes from the looks of it.
"What happens if we both lose?" asked King curiously.
Eda was about to open her mouth to answer the question but the sound of a door closing was heard. Both of them blinked at the same time.
"Eda, King, Hooty! Got a minute?" came Luz's voice from the other room.
"I'll let you know." Eda answered.
Both Eda and King got up on their feet to stand as they saw both Luz and Maxwell rush their way in the kitchen. Luz tripped on her feet as one foot nearly intertwined with the other, causing her to trip and just as soon as she was about to fall was when Maxwell caught her in one hand and arm. He pulled her back up on her feet and Maxwell turned to Eda and King.
"That's a close call." said Luz relieved.
"Nothing to worry about, Luz." Maxwell replied.
The two human teenagers turned to looked at Eda and King and grew curious.
"What's going on here?" asked Maxwell curiously.
"Uhhhhh nothing." lied Eda and King in unison.
"What's on you two crazy kid's minds?" asked King changing the subject.
"There's something we got to inform you about, Eda. It's going to sound a bit weird." Maxwell kindly warning her.
"Maxie, here at the Boiling Isles, there's a lot of weirdness here. Or at least no more than usual. But what ever you have to tell me, as long as no one is dead or as long as no one did anything wrong like say brought home a huge monster and is asking me if we could keep it as a pet, than we should be alright. Besides, we already got a small and furry creature living here and he's practically making kids laugh." said Eda making a slight joke about King.
They all blushed at the last thing Eda said and King picked up on what she was talking about.
"We're talking about me, are we?" said King curiously.
"Do you know another furry creature living here that isn't you?" asked Eda rhetorically.
King seemed to catch on and knew that Eda was making a harmless joke about him but this time, he felt like he could take this joke.
"Okay, you got me." said King catching on.
"You two just love having fun, don't you." said Luz nearly giggling.
"Just like we've told Maxie, we've always been this way." said King. "But what's on your minds?"
"Remember the man I told you about that may have given me such power and has been missing in action since than? I think I might know where he'll be at next." said Maxwell.
"Had another vision?" asked Eda guessing the truth.
"Yes!" said Luz and Maxwell in unison.
King let out a whistle as if surprised that Eda guessed the truth.
"So where did you see him?" asked Eda.
"The knee." Maxwell answered.
There was a silence as everyone in the room went quiet. They've been to the knee of the Boiling Isles before but Maxwell hasn't. Luz didn't tell him much about the events that occurred when both Luz, Eda, Amity, Edric and Emira went to the knee. Maxwell was starting to grow curious about such events.
"Is there something you guys are not telling me?" said Maxwell curiously.
"Maxie, have you ever been to the knee?" asked Luz looking worried.
"No, I don't know where it is." Maxwell answered.
"I see, if this mysterious man is there, than we'll have to search for him there." said Eda.
"What if my vision is wrong again? I don't want to cause anyone trouble just because my vision shown me something that turned out to be wrong or turned out to be something we've missed." said Maxwell showing some guilt.
Eda walked towards Maxwell and she placed her hand on Maxwell's cheek as if to let him know he's not to blame. She started to place her hand underneath his chin which this caused Maxwell to blush.
"Maxie, sure, some of your visions were wrong, but some of them were right. I may not have the ability to foresee the future but I do know that for anyone who can, they got no control over it and that's not their fault. Nothing we can do about that." said Eda trying to let Maxwell know he's not to blame.
"Eda's right, and sometimes these visions came in handy. There's been evidence to prove that." said Luz in agreement.
Maxwell did feel better about hearing this from them which caused him to blush less. Eda's facial expression suddenly turned to alert as she looked at Maxwell and the boy was feeling slightly nervous.
"But just so you know, young man. While at the knee, do not wander off from me, Luz or anyone. You stick by me and Luz the whole time, if you happen to take off anywhere, you do not go anywhere alone unless me, Luz or someone is with you. You understand me, young man?" Eda instructed.
"Yes ma'am, I do." said Maxwell shaking a bit with a gulp.
Luz and King gave Eda a look at that told her to go easy on Maxwell as they felt she was being a bit too stern but they sympathized with why she was giving him a heads up.
"Maxie, I'm only telling you this because we nothing bad happening to you, or anyone else. I'm responsible for all of you and you're all under my protection, if anyone or anything tries to hurt you, than I'll handle them." said Eda showing a softer demeanor.
Maxwell felt a little better hearing this as he nodded.
"While at the knee, we're going to have to dress warmly for the trip. From what I know, cold weather is a pain." Eda informed. "We're headed out."
Eda, King, Luz and Maxwell took a few minutes or more to get ready for the trip to the knee of the Boiling Isles. They dressed up in winter clothing. In the winter clothing they wore, it made them look like they were dressed in winter clothing that people in Russia wore. They wore what looked like black leather boots, leather gloves as Eda wore maroon gloves, Luz wore dark brown gloves while Maxwell wore black clothes. Their jackets were looking like brown parka jackets with zippers and a belt on each one. King wore the same outfit but he did wear a form of clothes and boots as well. The left the house and it took them no time at all to arrive at the knee as Maxwell teleported them and himself to the location which Eda instructed him where the location is. They agreed to let him teleport them there because it was faster. The temperatures there were cold and there was plenty of snow.
"Hey Maxie, them clothes keeping you warm?" asked Luz curiously.
Maxwell felt warm in the clothes but he did feel the cold temperatures of the location. He looked around with his eyes and turned his head in different directions to look at the surround areas. He looked as though he's never seen snow before. He felt a strange feeling there.
"Yo Maxie, you never seen snow before?" asked King trying to get his attention.
"I've seen snow before, it's just my dad disapproved of me playing in it. He told me it distracted me from my studies. But there was one time when I did play in the snow for a bit." Maxwell finally replied.
"So your dad never let you play in the snow?" said King.
The boy gave them an answer by shaking his head twice. They realized this was a sad thing to hear, they knew that they came here to look for the mysterious man who gave Maxwell his power but they also felt like Maxwell was deprived of the fun of playing in the snow. Eda felt her motherly instincts kicking in as she grinned.
"Maxie, you know, while were out here looking for that man, who says we can't have a little fun out here." Eda told him.
Maxwell felt a bit of excitement growing inside him as he smiled.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" said Maxwell chuckling.
"Going insane in the membrane with the snow?" Luz guessed.
"I didn't hear a no. I'm going for it!" said Maxwell excitedly.
Just as soon as Maxwell was about to run to have some fun in the snow, that's when both Eda and Luz grabbed hold of him by the back of his jacket to stop him. Maxwell was confused now.
"Maxie, before we do anything, you should know that this place has it's dangers." said Luz showing worry.
"What dangers? I'll stay away from any cliffs or drops that go down." said Maxwell not fully understanding what they meant.
Eda and Luz knew that there was a danger they knew about the knee that Maxwell didn't know nor did they tell him about.
"Should I tell him?" Eda suggested.
"Tell me what?" asked Maxwell.
Eda let out a sigh as she knew she had to tell him as much as Luz knew Maxwell had a right to know. Maxwell didn't understand what they meant.
"Maxie, the only danger here is a creature known as the Slitherbeast. Now don't freak out when you see it." warned Eda.
As Maxwell listened, he turned his head towards another direction and there, he saw a huge yeti like creature. It had white fur all over it's body, big purple claws but it had no eyes, and it was the size of a large covered wagon or a pickup truck camper. Maxwell's excitement quickly turned to shocked fear.
"Would this creature be covered in white fur all over with huge purple claws?" asked Maxwell describing the creature.
"Did you read our minds?" asked Eda.
"Didn't have to because it's chewing on wood over there like it's grubbing on a rack of ribs." said Maxwell starting to panic.
They turned to look in the direction that Maxwell was looking in and they saw the Slitherbeast was chewing on wood like it was a giant chicken wing. They saw that Maxwell was cowering a bit from the sight of the huge creature.
"That creature must be steroids because there's no way it should be that big. It's chewing on that bit of wood like it's a giant french fry dipped in ketchup. What in the hell does that thing eat and keep that thing away from me because I'm not a plate of buffalo wings with dipping sauce to that horror film monster!" Maxwell said really fast in a panicked tone.
"Maxwell Logan, two things I'll tell you, one, language, and two, calm down and relax!" Eda instructed firmly.
Maxwell took a deep breath and let it out as he became submissive towards Eda and obeyed her command. He shook in the body a little from fear.
"Maxie, this is what we were afraid to tell you when coming here. But it's like Eda said, if you don't mess with him, he won't mess with you." said Luz with a word of comfort.
"And how did your first trip here turn out?" asked Maxwell hanging onto their words for any hope.
"I accidently sent a fire ball at it with Amity's wand and it nabbed Eda, Edric and Emira and me and Amity rescued them." Luz revealed.
They saw Maxwell's expression turned wide eyed with surprise and slight fear. They realized telling him that bit of information possibly made it worse.
"That didn't help, did it?" asked Luz.
Maxwell went over towards Luz and pulled her in for a hug as his grip was firm but not cutting off her oxygen or circulation. He shook a bit from fear when he heard that bit of information that was told to him.
"I'll take that as a no." answered King.
Luz had an idea to calm Maxwell as she placed her hands on Maxwell's shoulders and gently turned his head to face her.
"Maxie, it's alright. If that oversized snowball causes us any problems, than Eda will take care of the problem. Besides, as she said, we don't bother it, and it won't bother us." Luz reassured.
Hearing such words and seeing Luz showing some optimism had him feeling a little better. Luz went in and gave Maxwell a kiss to his cheeks as she hugged him back.
"How do you all manage to put up with me." said Maxwell relieved.
"Your family, Maxie boy, family puts up with each other, no matter how much they drive each other crazy." King reassured.
After Maxwell and Luz released their arms from each other, the boy felt reassured by their words. They continued going forwards as they made it to the knee which in the spot they were in looked as though they were near the ruins of a building that was once there but no longer in the spot. There was small pieces of the building that once stood there.
"Was there once a building here?" asked Maxwell curiously.
"Well, the earliest witches came to the Knee to develop their magic, drawn to its natural power. But there was a building here, or there used to be. No one really knows what happened to the building that once stood here." Eda explained.
"Interesting." said Maxwell.
Maxwell walked a few feet away and looked around the area. He gazed at the entire surrounding area. He did look to see if there was any sign of the man he saw in his vision but he saw no signs of him being there.
"You guys see anything out of the ordinary here?" called Maxwell.
They looked around and sadly saw nothing of the sort.
"Not yet." said Eda, Luz and King in unison.
As Maxwell looked around a bit more, something that looked like a purple ball of fire was coming in his direction. Eda was the first to see that as she came to him by a run and jumped towards him.
"Heads up!" shouted Eda.
Eda pushed Maxwell out of the way of the purple fire ball as both of them lay there on the ground. The fire ball hit part of a wall that was having holes in it. Maxwell landed on his back while Eda was on top of him, both looked like they were hugging and snuggling from the sight and angle they were seen in from Luz and King.
"Sorry...whoever's over there!" called a girl's voice.
Both Eda and Maxwell saw the position they were both in from this and were left blushing. Eda was starting to giggle.
"You okay, little man?" asked Eda chuckling.
"I am, but from this angle, kind of makes us look like we're having a moment." said Maxwell nervously blushing.
"Romantic moment, huh?" said Eda with a grin.
Eda leaned in and planted her big, full lips to Maxwell's lips in a deep and passionate kiss as he was wide eyed at first but than closed his eyes as he began to kiss her back. Both of them were kissing each other like they were having a romantic moment. Their kissing was interrupted when Luz and King both were giggling.
"Should we give the love birds ten minutes or something?" joked King.
"One joke out of you two and I'm going to tickle torture you with a spell I know." Eda warned.
"Sorry Eda, but it might take us a minute to stop giggling." Luz replied.
"You two are so mischievous." said Eda and Maxwell chuckling in unison.
Eda managed to get up on her feet while pulling Maxwell up to his feet. Eda showed she is a very strong woman with the amount of strength she showed from pulling Maxwell to his feet with ease since the young male human was muscular and a bit heavy for others to lift up without someone else assisting them.
"Is anyone still alive out there?" came the girl's voice again.
They all turned to the direction the voice came from as they came out from behind an old piece of a wall and there, they saw Amity, Edric and Emira. Eda, King and Luz both let out a sigh of relief but Maxwell felt his nervousness returning as he tried not to show it.
"Hey Maxie!" called Edric and Emira in unison.
The Blight children walked over towards them as they knew that they were guilty of one of their spells almost literally taking one of their heads off. Eda crossed her arms and gave them that "You're in so much trouble" look.
"Which one of them gremlins blasted the ball of fire." asked Eda not looking amused.
The three Blight kids knew they were in a bit of trouble from what Eda told them and the look she gave them.
"We were only practicing a bit of fire magic. We had no idea anyone else would be here, which the Slitherbeast wouldn't count." said Edric looking guilty.
"Well, you're right about something. But just so you three know, when practicing your magic here, or developing it, if you're going to do like what you are doing, do it in the direction of ether a big strong wall or at least in the direction of a cliff. But don't go anywhere near the cliff. You almost literally roasted my man." said Eda as she just realized what the last thing she said. "I mean our little man."
Eda winked at Maxwell as he winked back at her.
"Sorry about that." said Emira with a nervous chuckle.
Eda stopped crossing her arms in discontent and her expression changed but not much about her expression shown a change.
"Anyway, did you kids happen to see a male adult around here before we showed up?" asked Eda.
Amity and her siblings looked confused and looked at one another as if hoping each one of them had an answer to the question that neither of them had. They looked right back at Eda without a clue.
"I'll take that as a no." said Eda looking annoyed.
"We didn't see anyone else here but us before you guys came." said Amity.
"Other than you guys, the Slitherbeast is all we saw." Emira confirmed. "Did you guys see anyone here before seeing us?"
"No." said Eda, King, Luz and Maxwell in unison.
"It wouldn't surprise me if my sister asked that overgrown snowball monster out on a date and it takes one look at her and runs as fast as Maxie when he goes full speed limit." joked Eda with a grin.
Eda let out a laugh and snort but Maxwell burst out laughing at the joke as well. Eda felt pleased with herself on the joke as she seemed to like the fact that she made Maxwell laugh at such an immature joke.
"Even he gets it." said Eda looking amused.
"With how pale Lilith looks, she has the appearance of a corpse!" joked Maxwell laughing.
Eda burst out laughing a bit harder at Maxwell's joke as both of them shared a laugh. King nearly burst out laughing while Emira and Edric managed to choke down their laughter.
"Maxie, you're a comedian right now, ha!" laughed Eda.
It took a minute for both Eda and Maxwell to stop laughing as they managed to calm themselves. Edric and Emira sensed something about the two that they had a suspicion about.
"Are you guys looking for someone here?" asked Amity curiously.
"We remember that Maxie said something about he's at the knee but we don't know what that meant." said Edric looking clueless.
Maxwell was about to say something but a pressure in his lower body was building up as he realized that the call of nature was sinking in.
"I don't mean to be rude but I got to use it, now. But there's no toilet." said Maxwell with a grunt.
Eda, Luz and King knew this wasn't good since they knew that Maxwell was right about one thing. There was no toilet around for him to use and it would take a while for him to go from the knee to the Owl House in order for him to take care of some personal business.
"King, go with Maxie so he can pick a spot to take a leak, or a dump or which ever it is." Eda instructed.
"Alright. Come on, Maxie, we'll probably find a tree or a wall you can go behind and use it." said King leading the way.
Maxwell followed King towards a different direction. Maxwell was feeling the pressure in his lower body growing stronger as time went on, they managed to get at least eighteen feet away from Eda, Luz, Amity, Edric and Emira.
"King, I can't hold it much longer." complained Maxwell.
"We're almost there, kiddo. Ah! Behind this tree!" King pointed out.
Maxwell saw a tall, large tree that was very big while he went behind the tree and began to undo his pants, pulled his underwear down a good distance and he started to urinate. King stood nearby but didn't look as he was on the other side of the tree so he wouldn't see Maxwell when a part of him was temporarily exposed. Maxwell let out a sigh of relief.
"King, you're still there?" called Maxwell.
"No problem, I'm not looking at anything." called King. "If you need assistance, I'll be here."
"Understood." Maxwell replied.
After Maxwell took a few minutes to finish doing his business, he eventually finished off and pulled his underwear and his pants, pulled the zipper up and buttoned his pants.
"You okay back there?" asked King.
"Just about done. Unless you want to see something you wish you can forget, I suggest you not walk back here." advised Maxwell kindly.
King suddenly gotten a mischievous idea as he started to scoop up a bit of snow and formed it into a snowball. He chuckled with a grin.
"Hey Maxie, when your done peeing back there, could you take a look and see if anything is on my back? I can't reach back there." called King.
"Okay." called Maxwell.
Maxwell came out from behind the tree and he didn't see King anywhere. He looked around with his eyes and didn't even hear him.
"King? Where did you go? Did you have to go use it behind a tree too?" asked Maxwell curiously.
Suddenly, without warning, Maxwell sensed something coming his way as he heard a loud whistling sound. He turned to see a snowball coming at him but he leaned backwards really fast to the point where he was looking like he was laying on an invisible table. The snowball hit the tree and Maxwell went forwards to stand up straight.
"What the?" said Maxwell surprised.
He heard King laughing out loud and that's when the little canine demon came out of his hiding place which was behind another tree. He had another snowball in his hand.
"Hey Maxie, ever been in a snowball fight?" chuckled King.
King playfully tossed the snowball at Maxwell but he dodged it by jumping to the right. He chuckled as Maxwell started pop his neck.
"Is this what a snowball fight is?" asked Maxwell looking clueless.
King took a minute and realized he remembered that Maxwell only played in the snow once and didn't have much experience with the fun activities that involved the snow itself.
"This is a snowball fight. You scoop up a bit of snow, form it into a ball and you toss it at your target, being the person your playing with. Like this." said King explaining how snowball fights go.
King tossed another snow ball at Maxwell but he was quick to dodge it again by slightly leaning towards the left. Maxwell bent down to scoop up a big handful of snow, he formed it into a ball and tossed it at King who dodged it by jumping towards his right.
"You're a fast learner. Go ahead, try to hit me with a snowball." King dared.
They spent a few minutes throwing snowballs at each other as King was trying to teach Maxwell how to have fun in the snow which Maxwell was feeling an intense state of exhilaration. They laughed as they played around in the snow.
"Having fun, Maxie!?" said King feeling happy for him. "You're playing in the snow and your dad isn't here to tell not to."
"No wonder playing in the snow is so much fun! Look at me now, father, I'm playing in the snow and having fun!" said Maxwell in excited defiance.
"Try and toss another snowball at me!" dared King.
Maxwell scooped up a bigger amount of snow and used his hands to make a snowball that was the size of a basketball. He was laughing in excitement while King was wide eyed by this.
"Be careful what you wish for." said Maxwell laughing.
"I've created a monster." said King regretting the dare.
Maxwell tossed the huge snowball and he tossed it with all his strength but it didn't hit King, it went over him and they had no idea where the huge snowball went. Where the snowball went had them curious.
"King, where did the snowball go?" asked Maxwell curiously.
They got their answer when they heard a loud, creature like roar and it sounded close. The roar had Maxwell feeling a sense of fear.
"The Slitherbeast!" King and Maxwell said in unison. "The others!"
They heard the roar again and both of them ran in the direction of the roar till they made it back in time to see that the huge creature was surrounded by the others. They were in a fighting stance while Eda had her staff out.
"Oh no." said King and Maxwell.
"King, Maxwell Logan! Which one of you tossed the snowball that's bigger than someone's head?" asked Eda sharply.
Both King and Maxwell gulped. Both of them knew they were in big trouble with Eda but everyone else was also in big trouble with the Slitherbeast as well.
"It was an accident." Maxwell said feeling guilty.
"I was only trying to teach him how to have fun in the snow." King defended.
The Slitherbeast sniffed the air and it appeared to be smelling something that was fresh, it eventually turned it's face towards Maxwell's direction. They all saw that the creature was looking hostile towards a terrified Maxwell. Eda looked back at the creature with rage as she knew what the Slitherbeast was about to do.
"Hey you overgrown snowball! If you think you're going to hurt my man, than I'm going to make a fur coat out of you with matching boots!" Eda threatened.
The monster gritted it's teeth in anger and looked at Eda. The next thing that Maxwell did was ether very brave or very stupid. A rage kicked into him as the Slitherbeast was about to grab Eda but Maxwell ran at full speed to push Eda out of the way and although it saved Eda, it only caused another problem as the creature grabbed Maxwell in one hand. It had Maxwell in one of it's hands, it looked like he held an action figure made for the Slitherbeast. Now Maxwell's fear came back but it was stronger this time.
"Guys, a little help!" said Maxwell with a fearful tone.
Eda was getting up and just as soon as Luz, Amity, Edric and Emira were about to do a spell to help Maxwell, the creature seemed to be faster and used it's free hand and arm to swing at them and knock them to the ground. The Slitherbeast let out a loud roar while it turned around and took off with Maxwell by running. Everyone was getting up and groaned. Eda was wide eyed with shock as she finally got on her feet.
"Kids, we got to help him, I'm going after him, follow me to it's cave." said Eda as a fit of rage kicked inside her.
Eda used her staff to levitate it and she jumped onto it to fly at top speed towards Maxwell in the direction he was carried off in.
"Hey you overgrown furrball! Give me back my man!" called Eda.
Eda flew in the direction to where she saw the Slitherbeast carry off Maxwell. She followed the large foot prints of the creature like a dog sniffing out the trail of an escaped convict. She passed a few trees and eventually stopped as she slowed her staff to a stop and jumped off it, landing on her feet as she stood there.
"Where did that snowball with legs carry off my man?" Eda said looking around frantically.
She turned her head one way and she saw the trail of huge foot prints going into a big cave.
"Ewwwww, that's gross!" came Maxwell's voice coming from the cave.
Eda went inside the cave and she remembered the cave had large amounts of purple goo on the cave walls, some of them had what looked like bones from people that were unfortunately eaten by the monster that inhabited the knee of the Boiling Isles. This sent an uncomfortable feeling to Eda's stomach.
"If that giant snowball hurts my man or makes him cry, I'm definitely turning that thing into a fur coat with matching boots, gloves, and a matching hat and open up a rib joint." Eda said feeling her mother bear instincts rising.
"Hey, stop laughing at me, that's not funny!" came Maxwell's voice again.
Eda got closer to the source of Maxwell's voice till she found him but she hid behind a huge rock. She poked her head out a bit and she saw Maxwell was stuck against the wall with the purple goo the monster used to stick him on there like glue. What she saw wasn't pleasant. She saw the Slitherbeast sniffing at Maxwell curiously but where it was sniffing him was what made Maxwell feel grossed out enough. It was sniffing at his crotch area and once or twice, it flopped out it's gigantically long, thick and wide purple tongue to give his lower body or possibly just his torso a few body smothering sized licks. Maxwell groaned in disgust and Eda was filled with a mix of anger, disgust and she even shown she too was grossed out.
"That's just sick. If it wants a date, than go ask out my prissy sister Lilly." said Eda annoyed while shaking her head.
As Eda was thinking of an idea on how to rescue Maxwell, she saw that beast was looking like it was mocking or taunting Maxwell by pulling it's mouth apart with two claws, and stuck it's big tongue out at him or blew a huge tongued raspberry at him, than pointing and making grunting sounds with a grin, it looked like it was laughing at poor Maxwell. This made Maxwell feel annoyed and Eda was feeling annoyed as well.
"Stop laughing at me and stop taunting me! I never meant to toss the snowball at you, what more do you want from me!" complained Maxwell.
The Slitherbeast was actually teasing, laughing and taunting Maxwell in it's own way which probably learned that from a person. The creature got up and walked off as it made loud grunts. Eda waited for it to walk distance away so she could try to buy herself some time to help Maxwell.
"Covered in purple goo that is possibly that monster's spit and he used his goo to stick me on a wall like used chewing gum underneath a students desk at school, been licked by it's giant tongue and now I'm covered in more spit, the only part of me that's not covered in spit is from my chest up, and my head and my face, that creature is probably going to eat me like a large man at a pie eating competition, been taunted by that thing like a bully to their victims, covered in shame and I can't move anything but my head. If the good lord can hear me, please send someone to help me here. Anyone will do." Maxwell ranted in disappointed.
"Guess who?" came Eda's voice.
Eda came out from her hiding place and ran towards Maxwell, she jumped up into the air as she landed on top of the rock that Maxwell was next to. Maxwell was almost stunned as he looked up.
"The lord works fast." said Maxwell with a grin.
"And so do I. I saw what that monster did to you and I'm not amused." said Eda looking annoyed by what she witnessed.
Eda drew a gold circle in the air and a ball of gold fire formed in her hands as she had the fire ball floating in her hands, she used the ball of fire to melt the goo, it began to rapidly melt and Maxwell slipped off the wall. Maxwell pulled Eda in for a hug as he felt relieved to be rescued by her while Eda hugged him back.
"Why do you think that monster was originally going after me for?" asked Maxwell.
"Not to sound gross or anything but since you went to use the bathroom behind a tree, if you had to pee, and if there was a drop of it on you, it probably smelled that." Eda explained feeling disgusted by the guess. "Just like when animals mark their territory during mating season."
Maxwell looked up at her wide eyed and Eda realized this wasn't comforting for him to hear nor was it comforting for Eda to hear either.
"That's not helping, is it?" asked Eda rhetorically.
"Can we go now?" asked a panicked Maxwell.
Eda lead the way out as she took Maxwell by the hand from the ledge they stood on to the ground which was six foot down to the cave floor. Eda kept leading the way as they walked down one path or tunnel to try and make it to the exit of the cave.
"This might sound gross but did that monster, you know, touch you in a place you dare not speak of?" asked Eda hesitantly. "You can tell me, and it'll stay between us."
"No, it didn't do what you suspected." Maxwell answered.
Eda felt relieved hearing that. They heard the creature's grunts nearby and they stopped for a moment. Maxwell's fear was returning and his heart pounded faster and harder. Eda saw the exit of the cave and felt some relief.
"Maxie, we're going to run on three." Eda whispered to him.
They suddenly heard the Slitherbeast make an angry, loud roar that sounded like a shriek.
"Three, lets go!" Eda instructed loudly.
Eda lead the way as they ran for the exit of the cave as they heard the Slitherbeast's foot steps thumping behind them. They managed to reach the exit and ran out of the cave as not too far away, they stopped when they ran into Luz, Amity, Edric, Emira and King as King was riding in Luz's jacket.
"Are you two alright!?" asked the kids hopefully.
"He's in one piece." Eda reassured.
"Maxie, why did you try to take on that beast? It could've killed you!" said Emira feeling some mother bear instincts kicking in.
They heard the beast coming and they all turned to see the Slitherbeast now caught up with them and was looking at all of them. It encircled them like a shark getting ready to attack it's prey. The first to act were Edric and Emira as they stood in front of Maxwell.
"Maxie, stay behind us, we'll take this monster on." instructed Edric.
Edric and Emira drew a white circle in the air and they drew a white line from it as they tossed the white circles at the Slitherbeast which hooked itself on the creature's hands. They kept a strong grip on the white line that was like a rope. The beast tried to get out of the rope but even the twins were struggling with how strong the monster is.
"Maxie, run for it. We'll handle him!" Edric told him.
"But..." Maxwell said feebly.
"We got this!" said the twins in unison.
Maxwell was feeling a mix of fear of the Slitherbeast and guilt that made him not want to abandon his friends as he knew they too could get hurt by the creature. Eda had an idea in mind as she turned to Maxwell.
"Maxie, that creature there teased you, mocked you, laughed at you, taunted you, and it apparently is a brute. There's no reasoning with it. If you want to take it down, you got to angry. Get angry now!" Eda advised.
Maxwell was looking at Eda as he wanted to listen to her but his fear of the creature was clouding his mind. Eda suddenly had an idea to motivate him.
"Maxwell Logan! Get angry like you did when you finally stood up to my sister! Imagine that creature called you that word you hate so much! Use that anger to motivate yourself to take him down!" Eda instructed.
Maxwell suddenly looked at the creature and he remembered how angry he was when ever Lilith or anyone called him a "Dumb Country Bumpkin" and a rage kicked inside him as he imagined the Slitherbeast laughing at time, taunting him, he even imagined that creature calling him a "Dumb Country Bumpkin" as his eyes turned gold, a gold energy formed all around him as he growled like an angry lion.
"Hey Slitherbeast!" screamed Maxwell.
The monster looked right at Maxwell and Maxwell looked right back at it. Edric and Emira looked back at him and they saw that Maxwell was irate but the gold energy around him and his eyes now gold had surprised them.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you, mother fucker! I did it! I'm the one who threw the huge snowball at you, not these people, me, I'm the one who did it! They oughta give me a fucking metal for tossing a snowball at your hairy ass! It's me you want, not these people, you want me instead! Two hundred pounds of raw, muscular meat, you know you want it, asshole!" Maxwell ranted sharply as he insulted the creature.
The Slitherbeast was irate and torn the rope that was hooked on his hands off him and was free. Everyone backed away but they didn't like what they suspected was about to happen. The Slitherbeast let out an angry shriek and charged after Maxwell but what they saw happen next had surprised them.
When it was about to tackle Maxwell, that's when the young male human jumped at least twelve feet into the air and clean over the monster but Maxwell grabbed hold of the Slitherbeast by the fur on top of it's head as Maxwell looked like he was riding it on it's back like a bull rider.
"Shītoberuto!" shouted Maxwell.
Suddenly, he was sitting on top of the Slitherbeast like it had a saddle, his legs felt like something invisible secured his legs on the creature like a seat belt that kept the passenger secure. The monster tried to buck Maxwell off it's back but Maxwell wasn't coming off as he laughed and let out an excited whoop. This left everyone shocked, but Eda was looking thrilled.
"Yeehaw!" Maxwell yelled powerfully.
"Yeah Maxie! Ride'em like a steed! Show that overgrown winter fur coat whose boss!" Eda cheered.
The way they saw Maxwell easily riding the Slitherbeast like bull rider at a rodeo. They felt a strange sense of ease wash over them as Maxwell was having fun riding the creature as it desperately tried to buck him off but to no avail.
"Yahoo! This is my rodeo, you oversized bronco! Try to buck me off now!" called Maxwell excitedly.
Maxwell suddenly got an idea as the monster kept trying to literally buck him off it's back. As the creature failed to buck him off, no matter how hard it tried to, Maxwell was stuck on him like gum in someone's hair.
"Who wants to see something really cool? Don't try this at home, folks!" called Maxwell laughing.
Maxwell had shown them what he did next as Eda was looking excited to see what was next. The Slitherbeast was about to roll over like a dog but Maxwell mutter something in a foreign language and he was finally off the creature's back, literally. As the creature rolled over and got on it's feet again, Maxwell was standing at least ten feet away from it. He placed his left hand behind his back like he was holding something behind him.
"Come on, you son of a bitch! Give me your best shot!" Maxwell dared.
The Slitherbeast let out a shriek like roar as it charged at him but what they saw was like something in a cowboy western film as in slow motion, that's when the creature was about to grab him but Maxwell pulled out his left fist which was glowing a white light as he held onto his left arm like it was a shotgun. The creature saw this and attempted to dodge but it was too late.
"Happy trails, partner!" shouted Maxwell. "Fuego!"
The white light that made his left fist glow had shot out from Maxwell's fist like a shotgun firing off a round and the white light formed into a huge circle that passed right through the monster as if it ran through the front entrance of a building. Maxwell teleported in a puff of gold smoke and reappeared near Eda as the Slitherbeast fell to the ground and began to breathe in and out with a snoring like sound coming from it. Maxwell had let go of his left arm and un-clenched his left fist, he popped his neck back and forth once. The gold energy around him disappeared and his eyes turned back to blue.
"At the knee, the top of the knee, the Slitherbeast sleeps tonight." said Maxwell in a beautiful sing song voice as he taunted the now sleeping beast.
Eda let out a laugh and snort from the clever joke that Maxwell directed at the creature. Maxwell was feeling glad he could make Eda laugh yet he looked at the now sleeping creature and it had a burn mark on the side of it's head. His smile faded a bit as he walked towards it.
"Maxie, what are you doing?" asked Amity.
Maxwell ignored her and one of his hands glowed a gold light as he placed his glowing hand on the burn mark that the Slitherbeast was bearing. What they saw was like seeing the healing process of a scar being sped up like someone put the time for a tree to grow in thirty years on fast forwards to make it grow in thirty seconds. The burn marks on the creature rapidly disappeared till it looked like it was fully healed and the fur from the burn mark rapidly grew back, he removed his hand from the beast after his hand stopped glowing.
"Now were square." Maxwell said to the beast.
Maxwell walked back towards Eda and he knew that he had some explaining to do.
"Just out of curiosity, what set the creature off?" asked Luz curiously.
Maxwell felt a bit of shame coming over him as he knew Eda or any of them needed an explanation. King saw this and he stepped in as he came out from Luz's coat and walked over towards Maxwell.
"It's not Maxwell's fault." said King out loud.
Eda looked towards King and was not expecting King to say anything while Maxwell's shame turned to surprised bewilderment.
"I started the snowball fight with Maxie in order to teach him how to have fun in the snow since his dad never let him play in the snow and since he only played in the snow once, I wanted to show him how to have fun in the snow. So I started the snowball fight, taught him how to play in a snowball fight but than I also dared him to toss a snowball at me. He took on the dare and tossed a bigger snowball that went into the wrong direction and hit the Slitherbeast. I know Maxie tossed the snowball that hit the beast but I dared him to toss it at me. So if anyone's to blame for this, than don't blame Maxie." King explained taking the blame for Maxwell.
Eda looked at Maxwell as she was starting to grow suspicious if King was telling the truth or not.
"Maxwell Logan, is what King telling us true? Just so you know, it will do anyone no good to lie to me." Eda warned.
Maxwell was both afraid of how Eda would react about what he'd tell her but he delved into King's mind as King told him through his mind something that Maxwell should tell her.
"I know you're afraid of but don't be, you didn't start the snowball fight, I did." thought King as Maxwell read his mind and heard him tell the human male through his mind.
Maxwell looked back at Eda and let out a sigh.
"King did technically start the snowball fight, yes, but I'm the one who tossed the huge snowball without knowing where it went till we found out later. But don't be too harsh on King, he only wanted me to know the joys of a snowball fight. So were both to blame for it." Maxwell confessed.
They all knew that Maxwell meant no harm with his actions and they knew that King was the same as he was only wanting to teach Maxwell how to have fun in the snow. Eda reached her hand out and placed it on Maxwell's left cheek. Maxwell looked up and saw she wasn't angry, she was stoic.
"Maxie, why did you push me out of the way of the Slitherbeast? You do know I can handle myself." asked Eda curiously.
"Even though you're a powerful witch and you can handle anything that comes your way, still, no brute is allowed to touch you while I'm around. I didn't want that beast harming you or anyone, if it hurt you, anyone or worse, than I'd know I'd be to blame as my vision had us come here in the first place. Regardless if my vision was wrong or right or if I don't understand how this power works when the psychic capabilities kick in, still, I know that I don't want anything happening to those I love. I've learned it from my mom when she taught me to respect a lady, it's just how my mother raised me. That, and it's just how some of us southerners are." Maxwell told her.
Hearing this had Eda both feeling a sense of pride but also a sense of understanding, she knew that Maxwell's mother taught him to respect a woman and it made him the gentlemen he is today, despite the fact that his father wasn't a good parent to him. Eda knew that Maxwell did what he did because it was his gentlemen instincts that was taught to him by his mother which she knew that's who he is. She smiled which Maxwell felt surprised by this reaction.
"You know Maxie, even though you pushed me out of the way to keep me out of harms way, you know I can handle myself but I know your heart was in the right place. Even when I was teaching Luz her second spell, we had a run in with that Slitherbeast, even though Luz never meant to anger it, still, we've forgiven Luz as she managed to rescue us from that beast. And we're still alive in one piece and not pieces." said Eda with a word of comfort. "But even though this vision you had may have been wrong, there are times when your visions are right. I may not know anything about the ability to see the future but I do know it's complicated and your not to blame for it. That's just life, it happens sometimes."
Eda placed her other hand on his right cheek as she pulled Maxwell in for a kiss to her soft, big, full lips as she was kissing him passionately while Maxwell kissed her back as the two held onto each other during their romantic kissing. Luz and King smiled at the sight of this as they knew this was beautiful to see since they knew that Eda and Maxwell were in love each other and were perfect for each other. But Amity, Edric and Emira were left wide eyed with their jaws dropping open. Emira started to figure out who this lady is that Maxwell is dating. Both Eda and Maxwell eventually pulled their lips off in a loud pop, both of them smiling.
"Sometimes I wonder how do you put up with me." said Maxwell with a blushing grin.
"Like Luz or King said, family's suppose to put up with each other, regardless if we get on each other's nerves or not." said Eda remembering something Luz said.
As Luz smiled and realized she was right about what she said, both Eda and Maxwell turned to see the Blight children were surprised to see them kissing and hugging each other like a couple.
"So Eda and Maxwell are?" Emira began.
"Yep." said Maxwell.
"And the lady you said your in a relationship that you didn't want to be bragging about is?" Edric began.
"The one and only." said Eda.
"So you and Eda are...together?" said Amity placing her hands together to form a hand sign on what she asked.
"That we are." said Eda and Maxwell in unison.
The Blight children were both shocked in a surprised fashion. Eda was an older woman and Maxwell was a younger man and they didn't expect that Maxwell or Eda would be dating anyone yet, they looked at each other and back at them.
"Eda and Maxwell are dating. I didn't expect that." said Edric.
"Maxie, I'm sorry that I got sharp with me words earlier. I know you were just trying to keep the one you love out of harms way." Emira apologized.
"It's alright, but at least you didn't have to relive your last encounter with the beast." Maxwell reassured. "Luz explained it to me."
Emira and Edric understood that Luz may have informed Maxwell on the first time that four of them encountered the Slitherbeast along with Eda being involved and how everything went during the events.
"You're right." said the twins.
"I still can't believe Maxie took on the beast and won!" said King triumphantly.
Maxwell blushed at the words with a grin while Emira looked at Luz.
"So Luz, Eda and Maxie are dating now, huh?" said Emira grinning.
"He'd be king of the school if everyone at Hexside knew he's dating her." said Edric with a grin.
Maxwell looked at the twins with a stoic expression and his eyes gave them a warning look.
"Emira, Edric, if you spread this around the school, or if you tell everyone at school about Luz and Amity's secret Azura book club. One, I could tell your folks you're giving Amity and a friend of hers a hard time and you'd get an earful from them, and two, if you go around telling everyone that me and Eda are together, not only are you opening a possible risk of endangering Eda and me which Eda's enemies could use me to get to Eda or use Eda to get to me, but you'd also be risking your own lives and Eda's enemies can use you to get to me, Eda or even Amity or Luz. So think about this before you do anything, you really want to open up that can of worms?" said Maxwell kindly warning them.
The twins saw that Maxwell was kindly warning them not to spread the news around about his relationship with Eda due to the potential risk that it could pose for Eda's enemies that could put ether Eda, Maxwell, Luz, Amity or even them at risk or put them in danger or about the social stigma that the students at Hexside could cause for Luz and Amity about their secret Azura book club. With all of that in mind, both the twins relented and Amity felt a sense of ease and relief. Eda knew that if anyone else knew about her relationship with Maxwell, than both her and the ones she cares about could be put at risk of danger if her enemies were to use this to get to Eda or anyone she cares about. Eda felt like Maxwell was using his brain.
"My man's got a point, you know." Eda stated.
"Understood." said the twins understanding.
"Luz, King, we should probably head back, unless we want to stick around when the Slitherbeast wakes up." Eda told them.
King ran to Luz as she picked him up in her arms and she placed him in her jacket coat, pulling the zipper up to secure him inside. Luz walked over towards Eda and Maxwell and she placed her one hand on Eda's shoulder while her other hand was on Maxwell's shoulder. Eda still had Maxwell in her arms as Maxwell still hugged her. Maxwell knew the way home they were going for as they disappeared in a puff of gold smoke, teleporting their way back home. The Blight children were heading back home as well but they knew there was one thing that left them surprised more than ever and it was the fact that Eda, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles is dating Maxwell, a younger male human. They didn't expect to find that out.