Luz had gotten dressed adding her blue pirate headband to her usual attire. Luz picked up Hooty in his portable house, ready to go. She looked down to King and smiled, taking the map out of his hand. She looked it over again and rolled it up.
"Alright, King let's go. Eda, we're ready."
Eda smiled at them, she placed her hands on Luz's shoulder.
"Have fun, keep King safe, and don't worry too much about the sad but bad boy. I'll keep him safe."
Luz nodded her head at Eda. She felt a knot twist in her stomach.
"Let's find my dad!"
King yelled, crawling up onto Luz's shoulder and pointed towards the door. Luz smiled at him, and the knot loosened.
"Okay, let's get going you two. Adventure awaits us."
Excitement laced her voice. Luz put King down and quickly wrapped her arm around Eda's neck, whispering.
"I know this is important to King but what about Belos and the day of unity? What about making a plan? And what about Amity? She'll be coming over soon!... I mean, I can try to get these warrior guys to help us but I don't even know if they're real. This is happening all so fast."
Eda blinked, confused but quickly smiled, reassuring Luz.
"Don't worry about that. When you and King get back everything will be fine. And hey if you can get these warrior guys to help with the fight or clean up or whatever then that's great. Just have fun and help King, alright? And don't worry about your girlfriend, I'll take care of it."
Luz wanted to argue but couldn't bring herself to do it. She sighed and let go of Eda. She picked up King and smiled. The three of them heading out the door, Luz gave a quick look of concern to Eda before closing the door. Eda sighed heavily. She hated that she couldn't go with them but she trusted Hooty to keep them safe. Besides, she still had to deal with Darius and his plan to keep Hunter safe. Eda asked aloud.
"I hope they'll be safe, the fingers are out there and will take at least a week to get to…. Maybe I shouldn't have let them go."
"Edalyn, they'll be fine. There's nothing out there. I've been out to the fingers for research many times. They'll be safe and far away from the fight and Belos, it's a sound plan."
"I hope you're right, Lily."
Eda rubbed her temples, tiring to quiet a budding headache. Lilith sighed heavily, hating what she was about to say.
"Anyway Edalyn, we have to get moving, you remember what Darius said."
Eda closed her eyes and sighed again.
I know Lily…. You're lucky the kids upstairs and didn't hear you. Because if he did and panicked, I would have killed you.
"I remember Lily. We better get moving. You start gathering supplies we'll need. And start by packing a backpack for Hunter. I'll take him to Hexside, while you finish packing. Once I'm done we'll meet up at the old snow pass route to the knee."
Eda handed her a scroll.
"Make sure you put that scroll in his bag. That's our contact with him."
Lilith nodded at Eda as she held the scroll in her hands, heading upstairs to pack.
Eda looked at the stairs; her breakfast started doing back flips. She breathed out.
How do I explain this to him? I just told him I wouldn't abandon him and now I'm going to send him off to Hexside. I'll lose what little trust I gained…. No, Darius's plan is the best thing for now. And I made sure I'll have full contact with him. It'll be alright.
Eda breathed out again and started to head upstairs. When she reached the top she looked at Hunter's room. She felt uneasy.
I bet he's cleaning, trying to make himself useful… I'll have to break that out of him, he doesn't have to be useful to stay with someone.
Eda took a breath as she approached the door. She heard some rustling on the other side before knocking. She knocked and waited for a response but got none. She opened the door and looked at Hunter; kneeled down picking up books. He was cleaning the mess she told him not to. She smiled, rolling her eyes.
Yup, he's doing exactly what I thought he was doing. Oh, kid, I'll break that out of you one day.
"I told you not to clean up the mess you made,"
He looked at her fearfully. Eda let out a little giggle as she continued.
"But I see you just had to."
Hunter stood up the fear was replaced with shame as he looked away from her saying sheepishly
"Sorry…. But I couldn't just leave them on the ground and I thought…. Never mind."
Eda's smile faltered for a moment.
Thought what? That I would be upset?
She pushed the thought away, as she looked over Hunter. He wouldn't look at her, choosing to look at the floor instead. A guilty look was now on his face as he held the books in his arms, restacking them. Eda noticed that Luz had given him another sweater, a red pullover sweatshirt. Eda shook her head.
Alright, Eda you just gotta tell him the plan and give him the bag Lily's preparing for him. Then you just gotta bring him to Hexside. All before the coven scouts show up. It'll be easy, you won't lose any trust you gained from him…. He'll hate it and be stubborn, I bet…. Oh, Titan, help me!
She took a breath, calming the butterflies that were forming in her stomach.
"Well put those books down and come here. I have a plan to keep you safe."
Hunter raised an eyebrow at her, placing the books neatly on the ground.
"What plan? You didn't come up with a plan for Luz but you have a plan to keep me… safe?"
He asked skeptically. Eda winced she could see him already doubting her. She couldn't let that bother her because she had to hold it together for him, she quickly recovered thinking of a lie. Boosting courage she didn't have.
"Who said I didn't have a plan? I had a plan for Luz and you; ready to go but then Hooty spit out that letter. King was excited and it was about his dad, he's been eager to meet him. So, Luz's plan changed to involve pirates and a boat but yours stayed the same."
Hunter narrowed his eyes at her. Looking at her, the false bravery radiating off her annoyed him.
Does she think I'm stupid? That was a terrible lie, even with the truth sprinkled in, it made no sense and that confidence is just… annoying… But then again maybe she does think I'm an idiot, I did believe every lie Belos ever told me.
"I'm not that stupid. You're lying."
"No, I'm not! That's the truth."
Hunter glared at her as a thought crossed his mind. His eyes widened in fear, the thought taking over. He backed away from her.
"This was a ruse! You sent Luz away so she wouldn't have to see you get rid of me. You're going to either kill me yourself or give me back to…"
His voice trailed off as he hit the wall. Eda felt her stomach turn again.
What!? Where is this coming from? I would never do that…. He is still afraid of me or at least still cautious of me… Should have known one talking session and pancakes wouldn't have eased him into trusting me completely.
"That is not happening. If I wanted to do that I wouldn't have smashed that crystal ball into dust last night. Or I wouldn't have taken care of your wound, the wound that I had to inflict on you. Please, just calm down, Hunter. I'm not getting rid of you. If I wanted to do that I could have at any point last night."
Hunter looked at his bandaged arm and then back to her, concerned. Taking panicked breaths trying to calm down but the thought only crawled to the back of his mind. Quietly nagging at him. He swallowed.
"You're.. I… "
Eda extended a hand, smiling at him warmly. He looked at her, studying her face but he couldn't find any trace of betrayal.
She's not…. lying…. I think?
No, she's really good at hiding her descent. She did all this just to turn you over herself. She is just a good liar, just like Belos. Either that or you can't tell when someone is lying to you. You know it's probably that second option, you never knew when Belos lied to you. Because you're so stu-
Nope! Nope, shut up!
But it's true.
That's not true! Luz trusts her so I know she's a good person…
Not to you, blondie. The Owl Lady doesn't like you. Annoying voice, failure, sad but bad, grim-.
Shut up!
Eda frowned as she watched him, he was clearly arguing with himself. It looked like his fears were winning the argument, as he grabbed his head shaking it, shutting his eyes, and slid down onto the ground. Eda couldn't stand it anymore and neither could the Owl Beast. She moved closer to him and sat next to him, wrapping an arm around him. He let go of his hair and froze, he glanced at her, fearfully.
"Look, I know you're afraid. And I know that trusting people probably doesn't come easily to you but you can trust me. I would never turn you or Luz over to Belos. I would give myself up first if it meant keeping you guys safe."
The tension in his shoulders loosened.
"And I know that you have a lot going on since you found out about.. well you and Belos and everything. But you don't need to worry about me. Because I will never bend to Belos or his dumb coven scouts."
Hunter looked away from her to his knees.
… I don't get why she's sooo… nice to me. No one has been this nice to me before… It's strange.. but… something about it is… nice
He didn't say anything but Eda could tell he was willing to hear her out now. Eda felt dread creep up her spine.
…And now I have to destroy the small amount of trust I just earned back…. Thanks, Darius!
She swallowed, her mouth was dry.
"So, you wanna hear the plan to keep you safe, or do I have to just let it happen to you and you argue and hate me afterward."
Hunter didn't answer her. She could see the gears turning in his head. He moved away from her a bit, asking cautiously.
"What's this plan, you have?"
Eda breathed out, calming her nerves.
"Well, we're going to take you to Hexside with a backpack of supplies. While there you'll hide and wait for our… contact to pick you up and hide you."
He gave her a skeptical look, raising an eyebrow at her.
"...Why Hexside? Whose this contact? What's going on, exactly?"
Eda smiled nervously.
"I don't have a lot of time to explain everything, there's a lot of scouts coming here to arrest me and uh you."
Hunter went wide-eyed, afraid. Getting to his feet and staring her down.
"WHAT!? How do you know that!? What's going on!? WHO'S YOUR CONTACT!?"
Eda grimaced before she could answer, Lilith, called out.
"Eda everything's ready to go. Are you and the kid ready?"
Eda looked at the door annoyed.
Thanks, Lily! I'm not even close and you just had to yell that you were ready to go!
Hunter scowled at her and crossed his arms.
"I'm not going anywhere until you answer my questions."
Eda sighed.
"I can make you, you know."
His scowl deepened. Eda felt tired already.
He sure knows how to glare at people. If I want to do this I have to tell him… Oh, Titan help me! It's time for an argument.
"Be down in a minute Lily!... Okay. I know about the scouts because our contact is Darius."
His scowl lighted but he didn't say anything. Eda continued.
"He called me this morning, worried about you. And after a long argument with him, I got him to agree to my conditions. His plan is the plan we're going with, it's not my plan. He cares about you."
Hunter looked down looking at the floor, confused. He looked up at Eda asking.
"Darius… cares about me?"
Eda nodded.
"He cares a lot. He told me about his mistakes over the years. How he didn't show you how much he cared but… he swore he was done making that mistake and I trust him. So we're going with this plan of his."
Hunter felt a knot forming in his gut as he bite his lip.
Darius cares? Why? It's a lie… but he didn't tell Belos about Flapjack… Maybe it's the truth or maybe it's not. Maybe Darius is coming here to turn me over himself. It would be favorable to him to do so. But would the Owl Lady do that? She said she trusts him. But what if her judgment is wrong?
She's lying again.
No, not again. Shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't want to hear it!
Haha! Why not? Is it because you know I'm right?
Hunter looked at Eda, fearfully.
"You're not giving me to him, are you? He won't… I mean he wouldn't… I mean… Why?"
Eda could see him sinking in on himself, the fear and panic consuming him. She was losing him to his fears. She closed her eyes, collecting her thoughts. She exhaled.
"I'm not turning you over to him. I'm allowing him to help us, help you. I made it very clear that I had to have contact with you no matter what. I'm guessing Belos doesn't use Penstagram so I'm giving you a scroll with me as the only contact on it. And I'll be checking it constantly, whether you video or message me. I will not allow Darius to harm you, even if he betrays me. I would storm that castle myself to save you. If you doubt him in any way I'll turn around and get you myself."
Hunter swallowed, fidgeting with his gloves.
Okay, this is fine. Darius is… trustworthy. She trusts him and I know she's not lying, she'll go through the whole Isles if she has to, to get me back if Darius does betray her… It's odd but I can trust this plan.
Flapjack rubbed his face against his, reassuring him. He smiled at Flapjack and than looked at Eda and nodded. He was still nervous but he trusted her.
"...Okay… I-I'll go along with it…. I don't like it but if what you say is true then this is the best course of action to take."
Eda was impressed she didn't think he would agree to this plan. She thought an argument was going to ensue and she would have to force him to do this.
"Really!? No protest, no argument. You're okay with this. I mean you're taking it rather well, which is a surprise to me since Darius is a coven head. And you know he works for Belos and we're trusting him and all."
Hunter looked at Eda, he was puzzled by her reaction. He thought she would be delighted but instead, she was worried. He inhaled and nodded.
"Yeah, it's fine. You said you trust Darius and you are taking precautions to ensure my safety so it's fine."
Eda was worried but couldn't help feeling relief wash over her. She sighed as she got up and made her way to the door. Hunter followed behind her.
Eda decided that they would walk to Hexside so they wouldn't get spotted by any scouts. She knew it would take longer to get to Hexside but she didn't care. Keeping Hunter safe until they got to Hexside was her top priority. She sighed tiring to quiet the butterflies in her stomach.
This is nerve-wracking! I mean at least he's following along but I mean…. What if I'm making a bad call?... No, I always trust my gut and this seems right…. Maybe? Ugh, I don't know.
Eda glanced behind her. She was surprised by how quiet he was. He followed along closely behind her, silently. It bothered Eda; the silence made her skin crawl.
He walks so quietly… that's probably from the years of 'training' in that sick, monster's coven. I really hope he's okay.
Eda cleared her throat.
"I said it before but I'll say it again you're taking this awfully well…. Are you sure you're alright with this?"
Hunter stopped for a moment, gripping the strap to the yellow bag Eda had given him, tighter. A mix of worry and fear on his face. He inhaled and spoke, his voice was shaking lightly.
"It's fine…. I trust your judgment and I trust Darius… mostly. Besides, we don't have time to make a new plan and we can't afford to get caught."
He glanced down at his arm. Looking at the bandage on his arm.
"And I definitely can't afford to get caught. Panicking right now would compromise the mission and wouldn't do me any good. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I had to push aw-"
He stopped himself from saying anything else. Eda looked over her shoulder and glanced at him, concerned. Watching as Flapjack pulled on that strand of his hair. Her stomach did a backflip as she thought to herself.
Uh…. I have a feeling he has a lot of baggage he doesn't want to talk about or even bring up right now. My guess from what he was about to say is that he pushes away bad experiences and doesn't deal with them…. Probably why he has nightmares…. And why he had such a bad panic attack the other day. He is from what I can tell, usually a calm and collected person and can make quick, clear decisions….. We are soooo getting this kid therapy after all this is over. No child should be able to just ignore bad experiences and act like an adult. Belos really messed him up! That monster!
Eda looked back to the path ahead as they got closer to Hexside. Her stomach twisted into knots as she asked.
"What do you mean by… push away? And the first time? Have you had panic attacks before or have you… you know pushed away bad experiences before?"
Hunter didn't answer her. Eda felt the knot twist in her stomach again. His silence was all the answer she needed to her question. She swallowed down her budding fears.
"You do trust me, right?"
Hunter glared at her for a moment.
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be here right now. You have been very… kind to me when I don't deserve it. It's odd."
It was hard to tell but Eda heard it, barely. He was confused by his own decision to trust her. Eda wasn't sure what to say. Since he found her kindness strange, something so basic he found odd and confusing. It made her skin crawl and her ears heat up from the blood rushing to them.
Belos really didn't show any real love to this kid at all! Did anyone!? DID ANYONE IN THAT CASTLE SHOW THIS CHILD ANY LOVE OR KINDNESS!? No wonder he thinks Luz and I are annoying! This poor kid has never had anyone to truly trust in his life!
Silence fell over them again. Eda sighed causing the building rage inside her to melt away. As they walked Eda fidgeted a bit, unable to take the silence that fell upon them again. She decided to try something else to make the walk go by quicker.
"Soooo, Hexside, Darius said you made friends there. Ha, you know I'm a Hexside dropout. Never finished since the rules were too demanding."
He didn't say anything. Eda felt her head throb and her skin pricking with irritation.
Great a headache. Just what I need…. Ugh! I hate this silence! Talk to me kid! Say anything, anything at all! The silence is killing me!
"What else did Darius tell you?"
Eda looked at him, she didn't notice that he stopped again and was now fidgeting with the strap on his bag. He looked worried. He glanced at Eda quickly before looking at the ground again, his ears were red. He opened his mouth but closed it again. Eda wasn't sure what he wanted to say but the look in his eye told her that he was worried about Darius.
Huh? Why does he look so worried about what Darius told me? He already agreed to this plan and were almost to Hexside?... Is he backing out or is he panicking?
"Darius just told me you made friends on some kind of mission here. I don't know anything else about this mission besides that. Do you not want to do this anymore? Are you worried about Darius, turning you in? I mean he won't but if you don't want to do this I'm not-"
"IT'S NOT THAT!"
Hunter snapped at her suddenly looking at her angrily. Eda wasn't sure what set him off but something pushed him to anger. Hunter looked down again, shamefully.
"I just…. I do trust Darius but… I don't know, a part of me feels like him telling you about a basic mission is wrong. And him talking about it when he said he wouldn't just… made me… Ah, it doesn't matter."
Hunter let go of the strap to his bag and started walking again, pushing past Eda. Eda puckered her lips and narrowed her eyes at him as she walked closely behind.
Feels wrong? He feels like Darius did something wrong but wouldn't elaborate what he meant….. This kid is going to kill me.
"You… look up to Darius don't you?"
Eda watched as his ear tips started to turn red again.
Okay, I'm getting somewhere, now.
Eda continued,
"So, him talking about you to someone else, has you worried about what exactly? His opinion of you, cause he definitely thinks you're worth something and not just a tool like Belos. Darius does like you even if he's bad at showing it."
His ears got even redder, he stammered.
"I-I-I don't care at all! It, it doesn't matter if he told you about this and that's, that. I don't care if Darius likes me or not!"
Eda smirked.
Haha, embarrassed and flustered! He at least has a high opinion of someone who isn't a complete jerk. And to think it's Darius the neat freak of all people.
"Alright, alright, I see this is upsetting you so why don't you just tell me about your friends."
Eda watched as the red color of his ears returned to normal, a sigh leaving his lips.
"Why are you so curious? Can't we just walk, in silence?"
Annoyance laced his tone. Eda just grinned.
"Nope the silence is killing me and besides I know you're a talker. That was clearly established at Eclipse lake. So, come on talk to mama Eda. Tell me about your friends."
Eda had caught up to Hunter and poked his cheek, trying to get a rise out of him. He swatted her hand away.
I don't like where this is going, she's making assumptions… that are correct but she doesn't need to know that.
Flapjack chirped at him.
Hunter sighed.
"Fine. I'll tell you just don't do that again."
Eda smiled triumphantly. Hunter rolled his eyes at her.
"I don't really know if we're friends since I tried to get them to join the Emperor's coven against their will."
Eda wanted to sigh in disappointment but held it back as he continued.
"But I choose to help them out of it instead since I realized they wouldn't be happy in the coven…. It was a mistake. One that I will regret for the rest of my life."
"That's good. You chose to do the right thing in the end for your friends."
Eda tried her best to encourage him. Hunter just scuffed.
"They wouldn't have had to deal with it in the first place if they had never met me."
Eda grimaced.
Oh, kid, I'm not the best at encouragement but don't go dark on me.
"That's true but at least you helped them. Instead of letting them get indoctrinated into a coven against their wills…..So what are their names?"
Hunter stopped again. A small smile spread on his lips as he thought about his friends.
"We played Flyer Derby together. It was really… fun. I never played before, it was amazing, I hope we can all play again someday. Skara was great at making strategies, Viny is the healer, Gus the speed star, and… the captain, Willow."
Eda watched his face turn red as he talked about Willow.
"Willow is smart and strong. She is confident and a great flier. Her plant magic is incredible. She is probably the strongest plant witch alive. Stronger than head witch Terra Snapdragon. And she's really…"
Hunter stopped his ramble as he noticed Eda's face. A smile spread across her face as she gave him a look he couldn't figure out. Something about it made his face and ears turn even redder.
I really don't like that face!
"What!?"
It came out more defensive than he meant it to. Eda just kept smiling.
Someone has a crush~! Someone has a crush~! And boy is it real. Look at the red color on his face and how defensive he got. Ah, the good old days of being young and in love.
Eda didn't say anything, she just kept smiling at him as she ruffled his hair. He swatted at her, annoyed. They finally arrived at Hexside. She pulled a piece of chalk out of her hair and drew a door on the wall surrounding the school. Watching as it swung open, revealing her old hideout within. She breathed in.
"This was mama's old hideout. Oh, the memories of sneaking out during class to pull pranks and cause mischief."
She wiped a tear from her eye. Hunter gave her a concerned look.
"You are strange."
Eda's smile faded as she rolled her eyes at him.
"Yeah, well so are you."
She grabbed him and ruffled his hair again.
"But now you're my weirdo and kid so don't think too hard about that."
He escaped her grasp and scowled at her.
"Don't do that!"
She smiled, taking a deep breath and steadying her nerves.
"Look before I go I want to be certain that you're absolutely okay with this. It's risky since you'll be alone for a while and even though you have that scroll, I'm going to worry about you. So, are you okay with this?"
Before he could answer Eda went on a tangent.
"I mean you're probably not okay and I know this is happening so quickly. And obviously, you can hold everything together when you need to but I know that can't last. I've been there before and being alone is hard when you're plagued with dark thoughts. It's never a good thing and you probably have a lot of dark thoughts going on in that head of yours."
"Owl lady."
Hunter tried to get her attention to no avail.
"And yes I know you have your pailsman and he is sweet and obviously wants the best for you but what if he can't help? Spiraling into what ifs and I could haves. It's not a fun time and what if you don't message me? I can tell you're stubborn and-"
"Owl lady!"
She didn't hear him as she kept going.
"I mean what if you panic and you're all alone? I mean you will have your pailsman with you but you know what I mean. Or what if someone finds you before Darius and tries to return you to Belos? What if you get hurt and you can't get away from the person who hurt you? Oh, maybe this is a-"
"Eda!"
Eda stopped and looked at Hunter, who had finally used her name. He was looking at her oddly, she couldn't quite place the look on his face.
"Look, your concern is… endearing but I can handle myself. I'll be fine."
Eda forced a smile.
That's a lie. You're not fine but because Belos has you so messed up you think you're fine. I'm just worried for you…. And so is the Owl Beast. But I can't stay and force him to come with me. That will break any trust I have and he's adamant about going through with this.
"Okay, okay. I'll go now besides Lily must be thinking the worst right now. School starts soon and we can't have anyone finding out about this secret entrance."
Before Hunter could agree and enter the school he was grabbed into a hug. He went stiff in Eda's embrace. Eda started to pat his hair in a comforting manner.
"Kid stay safe. Please message me often about anything and most of all don't get caught. Or else mama Eda will have to come storming in to rescue you."
She swallowed her worries as she added.
"Cause I don't want to find out that Belos got you. If that happened I would tear apart the whole Isles just to get you back safe and sound."
She felt him relax in her hug as he nodded in response. Eda felt a little better as she pushed him into the secret hideout. He yelped in surprise as he fell into the room. Eda tossed the chalk at him.
"That chalk can open a door back into those passages if you choose to leave them at night when it's safe. So stay safe, Hunter. Byeeee!"
Eda smirked at his annoyed and stunned face as she closed the door and watched it disappear. She took a deep breath, steadying her screaming nerves.
"Okay, Eda, all your kids are safe. Now it's time to get back to Lily and figure out what to do about the day of unity."
Thank you for reading from here I imagine it follows the cannon except more Eda and Hunter talking via penstagram.
Eda gave one last look to the school before heading home, back to Lilith.
Thank you for reading. I just imagine that the story follows canon from here and we got more Eda and Hunter texting stuff. But again thank you for riding this crazy roller coaster with me.