They got home and the whole time they made it back to the Owl House, Maxwell was silent, looking like he had seen a ghost that traumatized him. He was already awake once they got him home and and walked inside, closing the door. They saw that Maxwell was still holding onto Luz's hand like a child holding onto their parent's hand.
"Maxie, you feeling alright?" asked King curiously.
Maxwell didn't respond.
"I wonder if the last trail we took to get home answers your question." Eda replied.
"Eda carried him most of the way here and when he woke up, he's been holding onto me by the hand the whole time." Luz chimed in.
Maxwell was still silent as his grip on Luz's hand had loosened and he let go. He walked forwards till he made it to the middle of the living room, he stopped and just stood there like a statue.
"Eda, this doesn't look good. I'm starting to worry like a parent to their kids." said Luz in a hushed tone.
"I've never seen anyone have a meltdown before. Well, if you count that time he panicked when he first saw me in the cursed form." said Eda also in a hushed tone.
"I think when I joked about, you know who, now that he knows that his da- I mean he who shouldn't be mentioned is somewhere here, we need to at least do something to comfort him like how we comfort Luz when ever she's going through a rough time." said King in a hushed tone.
"Well, lets not alarm him any further." Luz advised.
They turned to see Maxwell didn't move, his back was still faced to them. They braved the attempt to get his attention or to console him.
"Maxie?" said Luz.
Maxwell fell to his knees as he started to try his best not to break but he couldn't hold it in no more.
"I'M A MONSTER!" cried Maxwell.
They were wide eyed at his sudden reaction. They expected worse but this reaction wasn't any better.
"Maxie, you're not a monster." said Luz trying to console him.
"I nearly assaulted a lady and I'm against hitting a woman or causing them any harm. How is that not a monster?" said Maxwell shakily.
"Maxie, what Kikimora did to you was evil. Everything she said to you, her words mean nothing. You're not a monster. She used you, manipulated you, hurt you, she messed with you, she did this to get a rise out of you and she tried to get to you to get your power, she even tried to capture you and she tried to capture me as well." said Eda attempting to console him. "Kikimora basically tricked you, people like her do that to anyone whose considered an enemy to people like her."
Maxwell got up on his feet and hung his head in shame as he faced them, his face was red from blushing but also from tears, he looked as though he was caught in the middle between two morals he stood for. Defending himself and others or the fact that he's against laying his hands on a woman.
"She's still a lady, a short lady up to no good, but if I had hit her or worse, than my morals on respect for a woman is as dead as a corpse and I'd be a hypocrite. That's where it starts, if it happens once, than it'll happen again and nothing will be the same ever again. It would prove Kikimora's right and I'd be no better than my own father." said Maxwell sadly.
Eda was showing to be annoyed that Maxwell was putting himself down like that when he wasn't at fault for what happened. She came over to him and pulled him in her arms, this caused Maxwell to be a bit wide eyed from terror as if afraid of what she'll do.
"Maxwell Logan, you are not like your dad! Don't ever say that!" said Eda taking charge of the situation. "Maxwell, look at me."
Maxwell was hesitant at first but he slowly looked up at Eda, his body shook from how afraid he was as he had become submissive to her.
"Now look, you're not to blame for this. Kikimora tried to lure you into a trap, and she pulled a low down, dirty, rotten trick on you to try and get what she wanted for the Emperor and everything the Emperor or anyone working for him or with him will lie to their enemies, abuse their power, kidnap innocent people, they'll even hurt them physically or emotionally. Their ways of doing things is not going to work for everyone, all they want is control and power like some politician you told me about, everything that my prissy sister, Kikimora, the Emperor and anyone with them says means nothing, they just deflect the blame to someone else whose not guilty of what charges they slap on them. You are nothing like your dad, you know that." said Eda showing she was serious. "Besides, you once sucker punched Lilith to defend me, and when you defended yourself against her, you had every right to defend yourself because what Lilith did to you was just as evil. You were not bothered by that when you stood up to her, why should you let it bother you now?"
"But that was different, Lilith was the one who laid her hands on me first and I got tired of her hurting me. But Kikimora..." paused Maxwell.
"But nothing, your the innocent one in this, you're not guilty. You didn't hit her, so her words mean nothing. The only person whose guilty is Kikimora, and I'm the one who dealt with her. You may be against hitting women because your mother taught you to have respect for them, but listen to me when I say this. A man can't respect a woman who hurts him, I know you have your morals and they were taught to you by your mother, but your mother will still love you, even if you make a mistake or defend yourself. I've always managed to forgive Luz, King, Hooty and Luz's friends when ever any of them messed up and I still love them." Eda continued. "Kikimora used you, she played with your heart and that's what lead to what happened. You didn't do that, she did."
A lot of what Eda was telling Maxwell was managing to calm him a bit but he was still shaking from be afraid of his own father.
"Eda's right about everything. Kikimora did this, not you." Luz chimed in.
"Maxie, just try to calm yourself." Eda advised.
Maxwell looked down at the floor and shed a few tears, not from how he was tricked and fooled, but from the fear of his own abusive father now somewhere at the Boiling Isles. They could see this was not going to be easy to comfort him of his pain.
"I...I can't." said Maxwell stuttering his words a bit.
Luz had an idea to try and comfort Maxwell as she came to both Eda and Maxwell's side while Luz whispered something into Eda's ear. As Eda listened, she was surprised and nodded as she looked as though Luz told her a good idea. Eda pulled Maxwell in a bit closer and placed his head on her chest, his ear was against her heart and he was hearing Eda's heart rate. Luz came in to hug Maxwell as well, even King came over to hug him. They were hugging him in a group hug.
"Maxie, listen to my heart and try to relax." Eda advised softly.
"We're right here, Maxie." said Luz.
Maxwell's pain within his heart and mind seemed to be calming as he listened to Eda's heart, listening to her heart was having a strangely calming affect on him. His body was starting to slowly stop shaking, his breathing went from heavy sighs to calmly breathing in and out and feeling their arms around him was having him feel like he was kept safe.
"That's right, Maxie. Just calm yourself and listen to the rhythm of Eda's heart." Luz kindly advised.
As he started to calm from his panic, he let out a relieved sigh and his heart wasn't beating so fast from panic.
"Do you guys really think that the fact I almost assaulted Kikimora out of blind rage was forgivable? I know, I didn't strike her, but I had her held in one of my hands by the front of her clothing, which was close to her, you know, the untouchables." asked Maxwell blushing from the question.
"For one, with how small Kikimora is, I don't think she has anything upstairs, and she doesn't look like the type to have junk in her trunk ether." said Eda trying not to laugh about the last thing she just said. "But your hands were on her clothing, not her chest."
"I see, I just want to be some guy who gets labeled a pervert for even that. A lot of people tend to get the wrong idea about that." said Maxwell blushing deeper.
"Well, you're not a pervert. You never shown any signs of it." said King reassuring him.
Hearing that gave him some comfort as Maxwell wasn't the type of guy to be a pervert as his heart belongs to Eda.
"What about my dad? If he's here, somewhere out there. I wonder how he got here." said Maxwell looking up at them. "I don't want to leave the Boiling Isles. I got nothing back in the human realm, I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you guys."
"Maxie, even if you don't want to go back, we all know that's your choice and we respect that. We're your family now, and you're staying with us." said Luz reassuring him.
"Also, your dad isn't taking you away from us. If he comes anywhere near you, Luz, King, Hooty or anyone I care about, that includes your friends, than your dad is going to be given a reason to leave, even if I have to burn him like a marshmallow." said Eda forming a fist. "No one hurts my kids."
Luz felt the love from Eda's words and so did Maxwell, even King felt the love.
"Do you guys think maybe Maxie should take a day or two off from school? Just till he feels better, that is." King suggested.
Maxwell shook his head.
"No, I can't do that. I want to be there for Luz, I want to be there to watch out for her as she's done the same for me when I'm there." said Maxwell showing protective instincts. "King, I know you're just trying to help me here but I can't do that for a reason."
They saw that Maxwell really didn't want to leave Luz unattended at school as if worried that something would happen to her if he wasn't there with her or if he wasn't there to testify as a witness in case he had to tell Eda or anyone about a problem that Luz was going through and that he could tell Eda about it so she can do something to help Luz. Luz smiled and felt the love from his words.
"Oh Maxie, your still that sweet gentlemen we all know and love." said Luz sweetly. "I know there are times when I can handle myself, but I do understand you want to be there for me too. And I can accept that."
"Maxie, you sure you don't want to take a day or two off from school to calm yourself?" asked King curiously.
He nodded his head once and made up his mind, showing there was no changing it.
"I want to be there for Luz like she has been there for me. There's no stopping me from doing that. It would be like me lying to Eda, I can't do that." said Maxwell making up his mind.
They nodded and understood. Both Eda and Luz kissed Maxwell on his forehead and on his cheeks, causing him to blush with a grin. As they hugged him, he hugged them back. He started to feel better.
"Also, Maxie, what Kikimora did to you, well, you may have been hurt and enraged but what you're reaction to that was, it's normal, so it's forgivable. Besides, what Kikimora said, her words mean nothing. But if you ever have to take her down, put her in the sleeper hold. It won't harm her, but it will knock her out." Eda advised while reassuring him.
"Well, if I have no other choice and can't use my fists on her, than at least the sleeper hold won't be hitting her." said Maxwell in agreement.
They all were starting to feel better knowing that Maxwell was calming as his panic turned to comfort. Both Eda and Luz placed a hand on his back to gently pat his back.
"I really miss mother. I wish she was still here, she would've gotten to meet all of you, and everyone else I've made friends with here. Meeting sweet, innocent Luz, meeting King and finding out how humorous he is, meeting Hooty and seeing that he's just a humorous, meeting our friends and how supportive they are, meeting Eda, the most beautiful lady I've ever seen. She would see how incredible everyone is." said Maxwell.
"Maxie, even though your mother is no longer around, she's still with you within your heart." said Luz reassuring him. "She'd be proud of the man you've become."
As he looked right at them, both Eda and Luz smiled and planted their lips to his cheeks and forehead as they were kissing him. Being kissed by them sent his heart racing, his face blushing as deep as possible and he nearly fell from the overwhelming love that it brought him, they made sure to catch him as he was still within their arms.
"Maxie gets all the girls." joked King.
"Oh King, you lovable goofball." chuckled Maxwell.
"Only if it's to make you and Luz laugh." giggled King.
"Oh you." chuckled Luz and Maxwell.
After they all chuckled and hugged each other, it was getting dark outside and as they were all about to head for bed, that's when Eda subtly lead them to her bedroom.
"Guys, I know I don't always show my softer side but I do truly care about you all. So after how today had turned out, it's probably best you sleep in my bedroom for the night, just in case there's any lasting after affects." Eda explained as she got them to her room.
"Are you sure? I mean, I'm glad your offering but wouldn't you need your privacy in case you, well, you know." said Maxwell still blushing.
"While you all are under my protection, I should tell you, when Luz and King first found out about my curse, I did have a brief nightmare but it turned out to be a fragmented memory on who may have cursed me, but I woke up before I got an answer. So if anyone has been affected by the events of what happened when Kikimora did what she did, and if there's anyone having a nightmare, it might help if we're together for the night, at least to make sure the nightmares stop." explained Eda. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to any of you, if anyone ever got passed Hooty, which I'd highly doubt will happen, if anyone tries to crash this slumber party, they'll be eating some spicy fire balls for dessert."
Eda let out a laugh at her little joke about how she would take down anyone who would dare hurt Luz, King, Maxwell or Hooty. Hearing that had them feeling as though Eda really shows she loves them yet Maxwell let out a loud hiccup at the mentioning of setting an intruder on fire.
"I guess that beats the way Texas handles that situation." said Maxwell with a nervous laugh.
"How did they handle that?" asked Luz curiously.
Maxwell knew that telling them that would be a little too much for them as a southerner like him knew that Texas has that old saying and it was "In Texas, everyone has a gun" and he thought it was something that would be too graphic for them to hear.
"Let's just say that if you hear a big, loud bang when you're anywhere near private property in Texas, especially if it's in the countryside, just run away from the noise." Maxwell warned. "But that's just some of them, they're not all like that."
Eda and King were surprised to hear this but figured even if they didn't fully know what that meant, both of them figured it was good to listen to him and obey the advice while Luz fully understood.
"We'll take your word for it." said Eda and King in unison.
As they all understood what Maxwell told them, they all felt tired and were all sleeping together in Eda's bedroom as Eda wanted to help comfort Maxwell, but also let them all feel safe and protected as Eda felt her mother bear instincts kicking in and it was telling her to keep them protected and safe by doing this. They slept peacefully that night.
Somewhere at the Emperor's castle, both Lilith and Kikimora were telling the Emperor what happened in the plans they tried to use to capture Maxwell or Eda. The Emperor may of had his mask on him but the look in his eyes shown that he wasn't pleased. Both Lilith and Kikimora looked like they were a mess, they were picking a leaf or more out of their hair, dusting themselves off from any dirt and they look like they both fell out of a tree.
"You failed to capture Eda or that human again." said the Emperor.
"Emperor, if you need to know what happened, just remember, it was all Kiki's idea." said Lilith pointing a finger at Kikimora.
The look on Kikimora's face was showing outrage.
"It was better than your idea when my idea almost worked." snapped Kikimora.
"And whose idea didn't work this time?" argued Lilith.
"Ambushing him and interrogating him later on wasn't going to work." argued Kikimora. "Eda would just break him out like last time."
"Did I mention I really don't like you?" said Lilith sarcastically.
"The feeling's mutual." said Kikimora crossing her arms.
"Enough!" the Emperor shot. "While you two are arguing, that human male's power is probably getting stronger and he's wielding it like a master, and so far, that adult male witch fugitive that's been missing has no idea what he did could lead to something that surpasses even me or possibly both of you as well, we cannot let him reach full power or no one will stop him."
As they heard the Emperor mention Maxwell reaching pull power for what ever it meant, they were wide eyed as if they knew or heard about what could happen if someone like Maxwell reached full power with the power he possessed.
"I'm afraid I can't go out there to get him myself with the condition I'm in. You need to try and capture that human, Eda and possibly the male adult witch, if you can find him." instructed the Emperor.
"Understood." said Lilith and Kikimora in unison.
The Emperor was breathing in and out like he was having a problem with it as if he had a health problem. He started to use his staff to gently keep him up while he slowly sat down.
"There is one thing that will definitely increase his power other than that magic enhancer but even I have no idea what that is." stated the Emperor.
"You're highness, wouldn't you feel better if you took a rest?" suggested Kikimora.
He shot her a stern look as if not pleased by the suggestion.
"I don't need to rest for this." said the Emperor. "That is all for now, you're dismissed for today."
Both Lilith and Kikimora nodded and turned around to walk off. The two females were both showing a mixture of shock and annoyance.
"What would happen if that human reaches full power?" whispered Lilith.
"Even I don't know, this has never happened with a human before, I've heard rumors but rumors are often incorrect information. But the only other thing I've heard could increase his power, other than the magic enhancer is what I heard from someone who was a soul witness from what he saw in a psychic vision, but this person died before anyone else could find out. His last words were melody which no one knows what that means." explained Kikimora. "I doubt that human's father would know, he's too busy smoking and possibly getting drunk."
Lilith groaned in annoyance from the last thing she was told.
"I told you not to give him any alcohol, just give him water, juice, or soda, and no drugs ether. We need him to have his head on straight in order for him to help us take down that human. If the Emperor finds out we have his father in a cell and what for, he'll lose it, but if the Emperor finds out about the possibility that the male human and my sister are." paused Lilith in disgust with a groan as she shook.
Kikimora turned to her as if curious to what Lilith meant and the tall female witch looked around, making sure they were alone and she whispered what she was going to finish saying in Kikimora's ear. What Lilith told the small female demon got her wide eyed with shock and disgust.
"You mean it's possible they're?" paused Kikimora looking appalled.
Lilith nodded and Kikimora looked as though she was going to be sick.
"A witch and a human, possibly doing?" said Kikimora looking bewildered. "An abomination! A filthy, ugly, nasty!"
"Don't you say the S or W word if it comes to my sister. I said it's possible they might be, even with what I found out he was doing to me." said Lilith warning her while lying.
"That's two counts of unlawful seduction on that human. If I find out he's getting in a witch's pants, I'm going to be sick." said Kikimora nearly gagging. "That male human is going to burn! What a pervert!"
Lilith groaned as she heard Kikimora ranting about how witch's and humans being in a relationship like couples was unholy. She knew that she had the Emperor and Kikimora convinced about her lie about Maxwell being guilty of him having one count of unlawful seduction on him for what she lied about Maxwell trying to advance on her and that the second count to that was now added to the crime. This was a crime that Maxwell was innocent of and that the only one guilty of that crime was Lilith and she lied about it. She was wondering what to do next to try and capture Eda and Maxwell. She knew that she had to try something else.