An hour or so passed since they encountered that short but strange lady that wore a hood over her head and Maxwell felt some stranger danger vibes from the lady but didn't know if that was true or if the lady was really going around to let others try organic vegetables and fruit for the purpose she stated.
Eda, Luz, King and Maxwell were somewhere in the town of Bonesborough, running one last errand as Eda had them sitting on a bench nearby. She wasn't even that far away from them ether, a good ten feet from the looks of it. Maxwell tried to get his mind onto something positive as he was sitting closely next to Luz and King.
"King, have you ever seen a short woman like the one we encountered earlier?" asked Luz curiously.
King looked at her and was not so sure how to answer that as he didn't know.
"Well, in person, no, that was my first time. But I did hear about a lady who was short for her age that Eda told me about." answered King.
Maxwell looked at King as if wondering if he knew something that he too was aware of.
"Whose that?" asked Luz and Maxwell in unison.
"Eda told me it was a short, demon lady by the name of Kiki, or Kikimora or something." answered King. "All Eda told me was she works for the Emperor and she's bad news like a hurricane."
"I'll keep an eye out for her if we encounter her." said Luz taking notice.
"Did you say Kikimora?" said Maxwell looking slightly alarmed.
They both looked at Maxwell and could tell that he may have heard about Kikimora from the reaction he shown them.
"Maxie, did you encounter her?" asked King concerned.
The human male looked as though he spilled the beans about a big secret and knew that he couldn't lie about this nor could he avoid it.
"Encountered, no, but I've seen her before. It was after that man poured his magic into me and even from a distance, from what I heard her talk about, I knew it was all bad news." said Maxwell explaining things. "She didn't talk about much, all I heard was her name and her talking about the Emperor but that was it."
"Did she see you?" asked Luz concerned.
"No, I was hiding somewhere and watched from behind the hiding place. Ever since I saw her, I had bad vibes coming from her. It felt like I was feeling heat from a campfire when people roast marshmallows." Maxwell explained.
"Come." came a female's whisper.
Maxwell's ears began to lightly pound from the female's voice he heard and he felt a really weird vibe coming from a distance to him.
"You guys hear that?" said Maxwell looking alert.
"Hear what?" asked King.
"Come to me." came the female whisper again.
Maxwell lifted his head up and he felt like he could hear a woman whispering to him but Luz and King both looked as though they couldn't hear this female's voice.
"Come to me, my child." came the whisper again.
Maxwell turned his head and what he saw seem to be something that both Luz, King and Maxwell himself can see, but Luz and King couldn't hear. They saw a tall, Caucasian woman with long blonde hair, appearing to be Eda's age but she was wearing nothing but white.
"Come to me, my baby." came the lady's voice.
No matter what this lady said, her mouth and lips weren't moving. Maxwell started to look shocked or astonished by this lady, it was like he knew her.
"You guys see her?" asked King.
"Definitely." answered Luz.
They looked at Maxwell who got up from the bench as he started to walk towards the lady. Now both of them looked worried as if sensing something bad was about to happen.
"Maxie,what are you doing?" said Luz looking worried.
He didn't respond, he had a look on his face like he was under hypnosis or in a trance like state. He followed this mysterious woman as she had round ears like a human. Was she another human in the world of the Boiling Isles? How was this possible? Luz and King got up and tried to get Maxwell to come back but he slipped out of their grips when they tried to hold him back away from this lady.
"Luz, what's going on?" said King starting to panic.
"Your guess is as good as mine. Maxie seems to be following that lady. It's like he's hypnotized." said Luz starting to panic as well. "Maxie! Snap out of it!"
Maxwell wasn't listening or responding at all as he followed this lady while the lady herself was walking away but keeping her attention on him while the young male human was trying to catch up to her as if he was desperate to talk to her. He disappeared from view and both Luz and King were feeling like they had parental instincts that were freaking out like a fire truck siren.
"Maxie in danger?" said King.
"Oh yeah." answered Luz.
"Go tell Eda?" asked King.
"Big time." answered Luz.
"Tell me what?" came Eda's voice.
They turned to see Eda was unaware of what just happened and knew this meant bad news for all three of them.
"Eda, this may sound bad but just so you know, it's no one's fault." said Luz trying to keep herself calm.
Eda sensed that something wasn't right as she placed her hands on her hips.
"Bad news?" asked Eda rhetorically.
Both of them nodded and Eda looked around to see where Maxwell was but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Maxie?" asked Eda.
"It's weird, we saw this lady wearing white and as soon as Maxie saw her, it was like he was under a trance and started to follow her." Luz told her.
Eda felt her mother bear instincts kicking in just like Luz and just like King's big brother instincts. She looked at the two as if wondering what to do next.
"Which direction did they go in?" asked Eda.
They turned and pointed in the direction that Maxwell and the mysterious lady went into and without another word, all three of them went into that direction while Eda lead the way as the three of them were tracking what looked like weird looking foot prints, one of them was Maxwell's foot prints as it looked like Maxwell had size nine shoes but the other trail of foot prints was what looked odd, the second pair of foot prints were glowing a yellow color.
Somewhere else, Maxwell kept following this lady as he had a blank look on his face while he looked like his eyes were missing the blue color, his eyes looked as though the part of his eyes that showed color had disappeared and was replaced with the color pink. He kept following this woman whom had an odd power over him by now.
"Come to mommy, Maxie waxie." she said now moving her mouth or lips.
"Mama." said Maxwell happily.
They were somewhere not too far from the forest but also nowhere near people. The lady stopped and Maxwell came to her at a run, the lady opened her arms and both of them embraced each other. Maxwell shed a tear as it was like a child reunited with their parents after so many years.
"My sweet southern boy." said the lady with a grin.
"Momma." said Maxwell with a heavy breath.
Maxwell looked up at this woman whom he sees as his deceased mother. He remembered his mother, having the same hair color, that same flawless skin, still being the tall lady he remembered.
"Momma, I thought you were dead." said Maxwell in disbelief.
"Who told you I was dead? Were them kids at school picking on you again?" said the lady looking as though she was angry at someone. "Maybe I should call those kids parents."
"No mom, it's nothing like that. It's just that, ever since I was six, you, well, you got sick." said Maxwell looking saddened.
This lady placed her hand on Maxwell's cheek to lift his face up to look at her.
"Well, whoever said that is a brute who needs to be taught some manners about how to treat children. Especially when one of them is my sweet, baby boy." said the lady looking as though giving some advice. "Baby, what are you doing in this world?"
Maxwell's pleasant feeling was dissipating as he knew that this lady, whom he believed is his deceased mother, he knew that this was going to be a long story and not an easy one to tell.
"Mama, dad's out of his mind. I came here to run from him because last time, he was going to literally kill me. Dad has done some bad things, a lot of bad things that even a military drill sergeant would find cruel." said Maxwell looking ashamed. "I can't go back, mama, it's not safe for me anymore."
This woman started to place one of her hands on his sides as if to feel for a pulse. She started to nod and show sympathy towards him.
"Your father hurt you, badly?" the lady guessed.
Maxwell nodded as he shed another tear. This woman started to pull out what looked like a metal tray that was wrapped up in plastic wrap, the boy started to sit but when he expected to be sitting on the ground, he found himself sitting in an actual seat. The lady removed the plastic wrap and Maxwell's eyes showed excitement or dreamily relief. The metal tray was having a pie, a very sweet smelling pie.
"Homemade strawberry pie." said Maxwell dreamily.
"Maybe you would feel better if you had something sweet." the lady suggested.
Maxwell began to devour the pie as he tasted just how sweet it was, he was filled with such happiness, such joy, such relief. The lady giggled a bit from the sight of this.
"That's my baby, bigger, taller, older, same big appetite, same sweet southern boy of mine." the lady said with a grin.
As Maxwell devoured the whole pie, the metal tray was empty, he pulled out a napkin from his pocket and clean himself off from any crumbs or mess. The tray and the napkin disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Maxwell, I can take you somewhere that is safe and far away from your dad. Somewhere that he cannot get to." said the lady trying to convince him.
He looked up and saw that the lady was trying to offer him some comfort but he felt hesitant about it.
"We can be a family again. Come with me." she said still trying to convince him.
The pink color in Maxwell's eyes faded a little as he got up on his feet. What was being offered to him was something he truly desired, something he truly wanted but knew that something about it would've been possible years ago but now, he knew that it was no longer possible.
He felt something was pulling him back, something pulling him away from such an offer as Eda came to his mind, seeing her hugging him and kissing him, seeing Luz, her sweet demeanor and how supportive she's been to him, seeing King making him laugh when he felt down, seeing his friends being there for him and Luz.
He remembered that he still had to be there to help heal Eda of her curse, to help Luz when she needed it, especially with watching her back, still needing to help King when ever he got into a tight spot. His friends, being there for them too. He felt like he couldn't leave them. The lady started to see that Maxwell was showing hesitance.
"Maxie?" said the lady.
"I...I can't." Maxwell finally said.
"Can't what?" asked the lady.
As Maxwell looked up at her once more, he really didn't want to disobey his own mother but he shook his head.
"I can't leave, mama. I can't leave them." said Maxwell. "I can't leave Eda, or Luz, King, Hooty, Willow, Gus, Amity, Edric, Emira. I can't leave them, mama."
"Who are these people you said?" asked the lady now looking confused.
He let out a sigh as the pink color in his eyes faded a bit more.
"Mom, I found love. Eda, she's the most beautiful woman I've ever met, I fell in love with witch, she's got a curse on her and I have to heal her of the curse, I'm getting closer to doing that. She needs me as much as I need her, she's done so much for me, Luz, she's human like us but she's the sweetest girl I've ever met, I got to be there for her too. King and Hooty, I can't imagine myself being away from them. Luz's friends became friends of mine too." Maxwell explained. "They've become family to me and I can't leave them. I can't, mama."
The lady was now seeing that Maxwell on one hand didn't want to leave the Boiling Isles but he also didn't want to leave Eda, Luz, King, Hooty, Willow, Gus, Amity, Edric and Emira. That's when the lady went stoic.
"Mama, why not stay with us here? I know you'd love them as much as I love you." said Maxwell trying to convince her.
"Honey, are you sure they love you like your mama?" said the lady.
Maxwell's expression of hope turned to confusion. He had no idea what she meant from the expression on her face to what she just told him.
"Maxie, do you think it's possible they're only being nice to you out of pity? You've been bullied and abused a lot, and if they found out about that, than it might be possible that they're only being nice to you and showing you love and letting you be with them out of pity." said the lady.
Maxwell couldn't believe this but didn't believe it to be correct.
"Mama, they love me, they love me as much as I love them. They may be a little different, but you'll really love them." said Maxwell showing confusion.
"Maxwell Logan, how do we know they're not filling your sweet, innocent head with lies like your father or those bullies at school. You remember how much your father and the bullies from school hurt you, made you cry, made it a sport to be so mean to you." the lady explained as if trying to reason with him.
He remembered the pain that his dad caused him, the pain and suffering that his dad and the school bullies at his old school caused him. The years of pain, suffering, abuse, the times he got beat up and all the lies they've told him. But he didn't believe it if it was from Eda, King, Luz, Hooty or any of Luz's friends. He was starting to feel doubt about this lady or what any of them were saying to each other.
"It you come with me, Maxie waxie, I'll make sure no one ever says or does anything to hurt you. I'll make sure they never do anything like that to you ever again." said the lady in a motherly tone.
The boy paused and didn't look like he knew what to do. He really loved his mother and really missed her and he didn't want to disobey her but at the same time, he didn't want to leave the Boiling Isles with how he was adjusting to things there, he really didn't want to leave Eda, the love of his life, or his friends or even the family he's become part of. He was really at a crossroads with this.
"But mama." said Maxwell feebly.
The lady was starting to place her hands on her hips as if giving him the look that all mothers give their kids when they show they're not kidding around. Maxwell's heart was feeling a bit of familiar pain and he was starting to catch on, this woman wasn't his mother.
"Maxie!" came another woman's voice.
He heard that voice and turned to see that Eda, King and Luz caught up with him as Eda had a very serious look on her face. Maxwell knew that look all too well as he felt confused yet a little afraid at the same time.
"Maxie, get away from her!" commanded Eda.
The pink color in Maxwell's eyes was still showing but they could see it. They looked at the lady who looked back at them.
"Maxie, who are these people?" asked the lady.
As Maxwell looked back at the lady, he shown her that big eyed expression that was like them puppy dog eyes. The lady looked as though she caught onto who Eda, King and Luz are
"Maxie, are they?" she began.
"Mama, they're the people I told you about." said Maxwell told her.
"Maxie, that's not your mother. She's impersonating her." said Luz trying pull Maxwell away from her.
"Hey lady, what did you do to him!" snapped Eda.
"Is this lady the one you've fallen in love with? She's too rough, she's not gentle enough with you." said the lady.
"Maxie, don't listen to her, she's not your mother!" cried Eda.
"What kind of sweet, loving, southern boy doesn't recognize his own mother?" argued the lady.
"I don't know who you are, lady. But you're not this boy's mother. How can someone whose been dead for a while come back to life, without having some spell put over them to make them a zombie." argued Eda.
"I'm not going to let me my baby date someone whose too rough on him. Maxwell, come with your mother, now!" the lady commanded.
"Maxie, don't! She's not your mother! Think of it, how can someone whose been dead for years come back to life like this? This whole thing is probably a trap. Get away from her!" commanded Eda.
"How dare you talk to a lady like that in front of her baby boy!" argued the lady.
"You're not his mother! You're just some creep in disguise trying to manipulate some poor, innocent, young man. This plan you got for him is nothing but a trap and I'm not letting you hurt Maxie, or Luz, or King or anyone I care about!" shot Eda. "If you were really his mother, you'd be accepting of his choices and his decisions like his real mother was. You're not taking him away from us."
"That's not your choice to make! I'm his mother and I know what's best for him." the lady shot back.
"If you were really his mother, you'd be more accepting of his choices and let him choose what he wants." Eda continued.
The two ladies growled in anger as they argued about who really knows what's best for Maxwell, or who was telling the truth or a lie or even so much as who Maxwell should stay with. This was further evidence to Eda, Luz and King that this mysterious lady isn't Maxwell's mother. Maxwell on the other hand didn't know who listen to, he loved his mother and missed her a lot but he really loves Eda and didn't want to disobey her.
"Maxwell Logan! Front and center, right now!" said Eda and the lady sharply.
Maxwell couldn't figure out who he should listen to as he began to look as though he was on the verge of a meltdown, so many voices in his head telling him who he should or shouldn't listen but he could figure out which voice to listen to.
"STOOOOP!" shouted Maxwell at the top of his lungs.
They all stopped, wide eyed. Maxwell suddenly had his eyes no longer become pink but they turned back to blue. What ever power was over him that the mysterious lady had over him, her power over him broke. He turned to the lady as if he had something to say that wasn't easy for him.
"Maxie, don't you want to be with your mother?" said the lady trying to look innocent.
"Mama, I want more than anything for you to be with me again. You know I love you." said Maxwell as he had a really serious expression on his face.
He clenched his fists, shed another tear and his eyes started to glow a gold color again.
"But you're not my mother." Maxwell finished.
The lady suddenly growled loudly and charged at Maxwell with a loud, shriek like scream as her right hand had glowed a blue light that had static electricity emitting from it. Maxwell was faster and sucked in a big amount of air and breathed fire out of his mouth, shooting at the female who suddenly ducked and her attempts to harm him was cancelled as the blue light on her hand disappeared. Maxwell's breath of fire did stop afterwards.
The lady suddenly started to morph as her appearance altered. She was getting shorter and smaller, the hair color and eye color changed, even her clothing was changing. This was like seeing someone at age forty going backwards with their aging till they reached the desired age they wanted to stay at like their twenties, late teens or possibly going back to re-live their childhood.
It wasn't long till this woman took her original form which was a female demon of diminutive stature and childish proportions. She stands several heads shorter than Emperor Belos' subordinates, she had red skin and red pupils, yellow sclera, and three-pronged, taloned appendages similar to those of a fowl. Like many of the creatures of the Boiling Isles, her ears were pointed. Her most defining feature was the conjoined hands which make up her hair: one forms a fringe which hides one of her eyes from view, the other is clenched behind her head to form the facade of a bun. She wore a white tunic overtop a black ensemble, as well as a high-collared veil which shrouds the lower regions of her face. This veil is fastened by a triangular accessory, and she goes about barefoot. It was Kikimora as she was quickly recovering from dizziness.
"That did not go as planned, even being in disguise as that other short lady with a hood was making the outfit chafing my buttocks when I skipped." said Kikimora complaining.
Maxwell saw this short female demon and remembered her just like the last time he remembered seeing her. He was feeling a mixture of anger and grief, now that he knew what all of this was.
"You!" said Maxwell sharply.
"My plan seems to of had a hiccup." said Kikimora looking unfazed.
"You little bitch!" snapped Maxwell on the verge of breaking down. "What you did was the lowest of the low!"
"And yet, it almost worked if Eda didn't butt in." said Kikimora annoyed.
"Kikimora, what you did to him was...evil. His own mother has been..." Eda paused as she too looked angry.
"That shape shifting spell was temporary. Should've gone with one that lasted longer." said Kikimora still looking unfazed. "The human needs to get over it. Stop crying over something that happened so long ago. It's been eight years or less, get over it!"
They were not only shocked by how unfazed, callous and how cruel Kikimora was being towards Maxwell about what she's been saying and doing in order to get him to fall for her plans. They were also angry, but none of them were angrier than Maxwell. Playing with Maxwell's emotions, his heart and how he felt about his own mother that has been deceased for so long was enough to almost send him into a blind rage.
"Hey Bitchimora, you have any idea what you just did to me?" said Maxwell with a growl.
Kikimora's unfazed, cruel expression was changing into shock. She could see that Maxwell was irate at her actions.
"Do you have any idea what the fuck you put me through just now!" shouted Maxwell.
"Human, watch your mouth." said Kikimora feebly trying to regain control of him.
"Shut up!" snapped Maxwell.
Maxwell was looking like he has never been so angry in his life as he shot a look of pure rage at Kikimora, which the female demon was looking like she had that "Oh Shit" look on her face.
"I lost my mother when I was six, how on earth is anyone suppose to get over something so painful when their own father was was so cruel that he could make the Emperor seem like a sweetheart in comparison. Do you have any idea how painful it was to me?" said Maxwell shedding another couple of tears.
Kikimora suddenly gulped, she knew that not only did her plan fail, but she was now at risk of suffering a brutal wrath of someone she manipulated.
"Who else is in on this plan of yours, munchkin? Or did you act alone?" said Maxwell.
"I...I wasn't the only one in on this. I was trying to prove Lilith whose plan would work, so I thought I." Kikimora started to panic.
"You, Lilith and that ass ugly Emperor had your whole fucking lives to think things over. What good's a few minutes going to do you now?" Maxwell started to rant.
"Now human, talking like that about even the Emperor is not good. Well, only if he heard or saw you, but still." Kikimora tried in vain to calm him.
"Fuck him! Fuck Emperor Belos and everyone who works for him!" snapped Maxwell.
As Maxwell cracked his knuckles and popped his neck. Kikimora was wide eyed at what Maxwell was saying, cursing out not just her, but everyone who works for Emperor Belos or the Emperor himself. Even King and Luz never saw him this angry, Eda would looked like she was about to see that Maxwell was standing up to another horrible person but this was also new to her on how Maxwell was reacting to this.
"Kikimora, guilty of abusing your power, kidnapping, blackmailing, being an accessory to the crimes that even Lilith, Warden Wrath, the Emperor anyone working for the Emperor are guilty of. Your hands are just as dirty as the devil." Maxwell continued to rant.
Kikimora was starting to show she was terrified of Maxwell as he was so angry that someone manipulated him like that, especially by taking the form of his deceased mother.
"What are you going to do?" asked Kikimora starting to shake in the body.
Maxwell was so irate that he broke out into a blind rage as he raised his left hand in the air and Kikimora felt like she was being grabbed by someone who was invisible as she was suddenly pulled by the invisible force that now left Kikimora literally in Maxwell's left hand, he had her by the front of her clothing as she shook and looked wide eyed with fear.
"The Emperor is going to be looking for a new assistant, because his old assistant has just been M.I.A. It may take someone in between five to ten years to find a piece of gold in the desert, just imagine how long it'll be for them to find your body after I bash your face in, bash your face right the fuck in!" threatened Maxwell.
As Kikimora panicked, seeing Maxwell was about to raise a fist, she only knew one way to safe herself.
"Wait, wait, wait! Remember your morals, you can't hit women! If you hit me, you'll be seen as a fraud for one of your morals. Give me a smack down and you'll never have any woman respect you or believe you ever again." said Kikimora quickly.
What she just said suddenly sunk into Maxwell's head, he slowly unclenched his fist as a look of disbelief and shock was upon his face. What Kikimora said seemed to be working as Maxwell looked at her. Now Eda was angry that Kikimora was using his morals against him when the short female demon was the one who hurt him.
"Maxie, give her to me." Eda chimed in.
As Maxwell turned to Eda with Kikimora still in his hand, he didn't know what was about to happen as he was met with such a shocking bit of reality.
"But." Maxwell said feebly.
Eda came over and grabbed hold of Kikimora as Maxwell was starting to worry what Eda would do to her. Eda was angry at Kikimora for what she did to Maxwell.
"Hey Kiki, whose short, evil and is about to be know what a football feels like?" said Eda with a smug grin.
Eda drew a brown circle in the air and a huge, brown glowing light came out of the spell circle as it formed the shape of a big slingshot. As Eda placed Kikimora in the sling, she pulled the small female demon back a few feet as it dawned on Kikimora what Eda meant and what was about to happen next.
"Oh shit." said Kikimora in defeat.
"Tell the Emperor that I gave him a message." said Eda.
Eda whispered something in the small female demon's pointy ear and what she said left Kikimora is disbelief.
"Oh my! That's nasty and that is really harsh language." said Kikimora shocked.
"Bye bye now, shorty." said Eda smugly.
Eda let go of the sling and Kikimora was launched high into the air in the direction that she was sent it.
"You all can't run forever, we'll get you one day Eda, you and Maxwell's power, even his father is now here and he's just dying to see him!" called Kikimora before she disappeared from sight.
Hearing that as Kikimora was launched sky high back to where ever she was, she possibly made a safe landing somewhere. But both Eda, King, Luz and Maxwell were left shocked by such news. They turned to Maxwell who was seen shedding one last tear, looking to be in both disbelief and shock at what was said.
"Maxie?" said Eda, King and Luz in unison as they looked worried.
Maxwell said nothing as the shocked expression on his face left them worried and Maxwell fainted but before he could fall to the ground, both Eda and Luz managed to catch him before he hit the ground. What Maxwell feared most has become a reality, something that he hoped would never happen. His father is at the Boiling Isles and he had no idea where at. This worried Eda, King and Luz a lot.