AN: So I'm just going to give up on predicting when these are getting posted, because obviously I'm not very good at it. In other news, I went back and added a scene to the last chapter, specifically when Luz & Vee are leaving the house
"Vee, get me out of here!" Luz cried in alarm, clutching the bars holding her.
"How?" Vee asked in an equally alarmed manner.
"I don't know, can't you just… do some basilisk thing!?"
Vee threw up her hands. "What do you want me to do, shapeshift into a key!?"
There were then several seconds of silence.
"…Can you?"
"…I don't know, maybe, but there isn't a keyhole anyways!"
"Well look around, there's got to be som-"
"AH-HA!" came a voice from the door as it slammed open. "I got you now, you…" Jacob trailed off as he took a look in the room. "Wait a second…" He marched up to Luz, with Vee moving out of his way as he approached. He hummed as he studied Luz from top to bottom, before reaching in and giving her ear a pinch. "You don't look like a demon…" he mused as Luz flinched away from his hand.
"Nope," Vee denied, "no demons here! Just two… perfectly normal humans. W-well three, because now you're here and you're a human too…" She trailed off when Jacob turned his gaze from Luz to her. A tension filled the air as the two stared deeply into each others eyes, with Vee trying really hard to not do that sideways-blinking thing Luz said she did.
Jacob was the one to break off contact first, closing his eyes with a chuckle that soon turned into a full-on laugh. "Oh," he said as his laughter died down,"I see what's going on here."
Luz held up her hands. "Lo-look, we're sorry, we were just curious, and we noticed the door was unlocked, we… we really didn't mean to-"
"Oh, no need to explain," Jacob said with a grin. "I already know why you're here."
Vee paled. "Y-you do?"
Jacob continued chuckling as he walked past them. "Of course. I knew it was only a matter of time before you tracked me down." He stopped in front of the wall covered in clippings. "Frankly, I'm surprised it took you this long." Behind him Luz and Vee shared a worried glance. "Admittedly, you're not quite what I expected, but that's fine. After all…"
At this he turned around and looked the two dead in the eyes. "…You do want to become witch hunters, don't you?"
Vee blinked (normally, thankfully). "Uhh…"
"YES!" Luz exclaimed. "That's exactly what we want!"
Vee looked at her in shock. "What ar-" Luz nodded vigorously. "Oh, Y-yeah!" she looked back to Jacob. "Boy, we sure do hate witches!" She swung her arm in front of her in a gung-ho motion. "Yep, all those… those nasty witches, and all their, uh… witchiness."
Jacob clapped his hands. "Fantastic!" he declared. "I suppose I should start with a history lesson then; you see, a few hundred years ago there were two brothers, named…" Jacob trailed off before shaking his head and chuckling. "Oh sorry, there I go, switching into curator mode again. But I'm sure young, aspiring witch hunters such as yourselves know the story of the Brothers Wittebane by heart, no need for me to repeat it."
"Uh, yeah, totally," Luz halfheartedly agreed, adding "Brothers Wittebane" to her mental list of things to look up when bored.
"Still though, I can't believe finally found some like-minded fellows. Well, other way around I guess, but still." Jacob gained a far-away look."I knew putting up that video was a good idea." he mused.
"Video?" Vee couldn't stop herself from asking.
Jacob blinked. "Isn't that why you're here? Because you saw my video?" He didn't even give the two a chance to answer before continuing. "Well you're in for a treat, watch this!" he said with a grin. He then walked over to his computer and clicked around for a bit before twirling the monitor around and letting a video play.
The video was of somewhat low quality and also lacked any sound. In it, a girl about the two sisters' age walked through a rather run-down room. She had bright purple hair and her ears seemed to be pointed. More eye-catching however, was the large bundle behind her. Or rather, the bundle floating behind her.
"There, see!?" Jacob exclaimed, pointing at the screen. "Video proof of witches living amongst us humans!"
"Yeah, that… is impressive," Vee said, trying to feign enthusiasm.
On the screen, the alleged witch suddenly seemed to be overcome by a wave of dizziness. Behind her, the bundle came crashing to the ground, sending garbage spilling all over (not that there was a lack of it before that point). The young girl winced at the unheard sound before looking back at the new mess and sighing, shaking her head in shame.
"I know!" Jacob said proudly before frowning. "Unfortunately, that's about all I got before…"
From offscreen came that grey-haired woman – the Owl Lady, apparently – who walked over to the girl and ruffled her hair affectionately. She apparently said something to the girl, who averted her eyes, before handing her a glass jar of some purple substance before returning the way she came.
"Before?" Luz asked.
"Before…" Jacob trailed off expectantly.
The girl uncorked the bottle and dumped the concoction out. But instead of just splashing on the floor it formed a perfect sphere, which sent out tendrils that grabbed whatever pieces of garbage they could and pulled it all inside itself.
While that was happening, a second bundle of garbage passed by, though this one appeared to be carried by a small owl of some sort. Luz frowned as she got a sudden feeling of Déjà vu.
"Huh." Jacob furrowed his brow. "You know, I could have sworn th-" Suddenly the entire frame was taken up by a single yellow eye. "Oh, there it goes." The Camera's view jerked around for a few seconds before dissolving into static, and with that the video was over.
"WEEHHH!" King cried as he came crashing to the ground, causing the witch in the room to look at him in alarm. Fortunately he was unharmed, quickly jumping back up to his feet. "Ha-ha!" he cried, holding aloft some box-like object.
"Whatcha got there King?" asked Amity.
"Ah well, you see, this is a…" King examined the device from all angles before shaking his head. "Actually I have no clue, but it sure was ugly!"He shrugged and tossed the box at the abomipotion orb, which absorbed it into its amorphous body before rolling out the front door.
"So yeah, now they know I'm watching them, so I've had to play things a bit more carefully than I'd like," Jacob continued. "Still though, I shouldn't complain; that video is single-handedly responsible for verifying my MewTube account. So now there's nothing stopping me from telling the world of their plan."
Vee gulped. "Wait… they have a plan?" That could honestly be bad. They may be her enemy's enemy, but the Owl Lady was still a very dangerous witch, and who knows what kind of-
"Yeah, their plan to harvest human teeth and bring them to Mars to power their time machine!"
". . ."
"…Oh, right…" Luz said. "…That plan." She shared a bewildered look with Vee, who shrugged. "So how's that working out?"
"Actually pretty great! I mean, yeah sure there are a few nay-sayers, but most have been really receptive! Heck, they've even been giving me advice!" Jacob's smile faltered as he muttered "Though I don't know why so many of them think I should start using a chainsaw; those just aren't practical weapons." He shook his head. "Sorry, got off topic there for a second. But yeah, them knowing about me has slowed me down quite a bit. As much as I'd love to go in and take them down, they'd be ready for that. Not that I haven't been busy of course. I've been setting traps all over the place" The man gave a shrug. "No success yet, unfortunately, but it's only a matter of time before one of them slips up."
"Wait," Luz said pointing accusatorily, "you're the guy who's been setting all those traps?"
"Well yeah, I me- wait," Jacob pointed right back, "are you the ones who've been taking my traps down?"
"Yeah, all they've been doing is capturing a bunch of innocent animals!" Vee nodded in agreement, before realizing she probably didn't want to get involved any further.
Jacob visibly deflated. "I know, and it really sucks when that happens…" He threw his hands up. "But how else am I supposed to stop these things?" At this he pointed to a particular group of pictures on the board.
There were five of them, each with a different label. The first of of them was of the Owl Lady, and was unique in two ways. First, it was the only one with an actual name attached (that being "Eda"), and also the only one not taken by the camera in the shack. The second picture was a still from the video Jacob showed them earlier, showing the purple-haired girl (this one labeled "apprentice"). The next three were harder to make out due to being much darker, apparently being taken at night. They were a zoomed in (and rather grainy) side-rear-view of someone's head (labeled as "unknown witch"), some kind of skull-headed dog-like creature ("pet"), and an owl-faced worm-like thing extending from a birdhouse on someone's back ("WTF?").
Luz frowned. "But they wouldn't even work…" she muttered.
Apparently she didn't say that quietly enough, because Jacob snapped his gaze to her. "And what's that supposed to mean?" he spat out.
"I- I-" Luz stumbled backwards, only to press up against the bars and be reminded that yes, she was still trapped in a cage. "I just mean that all the traps we've found would be really easy for someone to get out of." Heck, she herself was living proof of that (current circumstances notwithstanding).
Jacob scoffed. "Well yeah, they have to be; what if a bystander got caught in one? I mean, I don't want to hurt someone who doesn't deserve it! What do you take me for, some psycho?"
Luz shared another look with Vee, but wisely decided not to answer that. "But if a human could get out of them easily… wouldn't the same be true for witches?"
Jacob blinked. "…Oh… I didn't think of that…" he admitted with a frown. "So… does that mean I have to start using more effective traps?" he mused.
"No, no, that's not what I meant!" Luz said quickly. "L-like you said, you don't want humans to get caught in them, right?"
"Plus most witches would be able to just use a spell to get out, unless the traps were enchanted somehow," Vee mused. "Some demons too, actually." Her eyes widened as she realized what she was saying. "O-or, that's what I'd assume, at least."
Jacob stared at her for a second before saying "Dam- I mean, darn it, you're right." He buried his face in his hands. "Back to the drawing board," he grumbled before beginning to mumble to himself. "Let's see, going after them directly is definitely out, I could try spying on them some more but I don't want to get too close, otherwise they might-"
Luz drew him out of his thoughts by clearing her throat. "Um, sorry to interrupt, but could you, uh…" She pointed at the cage."
Jacob blinked. "Oh right, sorry," he apologized, walking over to a framed picture and moving it aside. Behind the frame was a hidden lever, which once pulled caused the cage around Luz to split open and give her freedom once more.
"Thanks," she said.
Vee looked at the door. "Well, it was nice meeting you, but we really should be going now."
"Yeah, Luz agreed, "good luck with… everything." And with that the two made to exit the room.
"Actually, there are a few more things," Jacob piped up behind them.
The two girls winced and turned back around. "Yeah?" Luz asked wearily.
"Well first of all, about that wand?" Jacob pointed to Luz's pocket, where the handle of the training wand poked out. Luz paled and instinctively reached down to cover it, but Jacob held up his hands. "No, no, it's okay! I mean, I would have preferred if you asked first, but I've never been able to figure it out; maybe you'll have better luck. No, what I actually wanted to ask is if you do mange to figure it out, just… let me know? Please?" Jacob gave a friendly smile.
"Yeah, okay, I'll be sure to do that," Luz lied.
"Great, I appreciate it! Now, second thing; I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm actually looking for a curator's assistant, and… I was wondering if you'd happen to be interested?"
Luz and Vee blinked. "Really?" the latter asked.
"Of course! I couldn't possibly think of more fitting persons for the position than young, aspiring witch hunters such as yourselves."
"How… generous of you," Vee said. "But… we couldn't possibly agree to that!"
"Oh, don't worry, I can easily hire both of you, if that's what you're worried about."
"No, that's not it!" Vee said. "We're just…" She looked at Luz.
"Busy!" Luz said, answering her unspoken plea. "With… our own witch hunting… thing."
Vee nodded. "Yeah, that!"
Jacob shrugged. "Fair enough. Oh, but take this." With that he handed them a small card, reading 'Jacob Hopkins; Curator/witch hunter extraordinaire,' as well as a phone number. "Just in case you need to get ahold of me," he said.
"Yeah, sure…" Vee said, taking and pocketing the card, "We'll… keep that in mind."
"And here," he held up a couple pin-on badges, showing a flaming witch's hat above the term 'Witch hunter in training.' "I had a bunch of these made, but nobody seems to want them for some reason."
"…Thanks," Luz said, taking one and applying it to her shirt. Vee did the same, not wanting to offend this man. "But we really do need to go; those witches aren't going to hunt themselves."
"I completely understand," Jacob said, giving an informal salute. "Good luck, try not to get turned into newts!"
Vee shrugged. "Eh, apparently that fell out of style a couple centuries ago," she said absentmindedly. Jacob gave her an odd look. "Uh… that was a joke, goodbye!" And with that she grabbed Luz's hand and once more dragged her away, this time with much less resistance.
Jacob waved them off with a smile on his face. It was always so nice to see young minds taking a stand and trying to make a difference in the world. Shame they said no to his offer, but it would've been a bit hypocritical to force them considering his main reason for wanting an assistant was so he'd have time to focus on his own projects.
But then he noticed something on the floor. Picking it up, he realized it was one of those cards that seemed popular with the kids. The weird thing was that it was only half a card, and looked like someone had quite literally taken a bite out of it. "What on Earth…" he muttered.
Meanwhile, Vee had led Luz back outside and released hold on her wrist. The two nodded to each other before breaking out into a dead run, not stopping until they were several blocks away.
"So…" Vee said, panting heavily, "We're never going back there, right?"
"No we are not!" Luz agreed, before taking off her witch hunting pin and throwing it into a nearby dumpster, with Vee following suit soon after. "By the way, how long are those cards of yours going to last?"
Vee pulled out the cards in question. "Not sure, maybe a month or two?"
Luz placed a hand on the wand she stole. "We also have this too, if we need it… but they won't last forever."
Vee slumped over. "So what are we supposed to do then? I'd really not have to deal with him again."
Luz bit her lip. "Well… I mean, we do apparently have several witches living in our backyard…"
Vee sighed. "Luz, we've been over this…" she groaned.
"W-we don't have to tell them about you."
"Then what are we supposed to say? 'Hi, we know you're witches, don't ask how, can we please have magic, don't ask why?'"
Luz placed a hand on her chin. "That's a good question…" she mused.
AN: Okay, so, now that this arc is finished, there's something I want you guys' input on; I feel like I've put off including the other Cabin 7 kids long enough, so I was wondering if you had any good name suggestions for them (or if there's some commonly accepted fanon names I'm unaware of).
As for the chapter itself, I had a lot of fun writing Jacob here. Almost as much fun as I had with Eda a couple installments ago. Now if only I could find a way to write Eda… and Jacob… Hmm…
