It was a few hours later that the two managed to get back to the Owl House. She and King decided it was best to stay in town for a while before they made their way back. It would have been much harder for the creepy wizard to try anything in the crowded streets then the remote trails that lead back home. Figuring that they could at least have some fun though they went and got lunch at one of the many food stands that were set up on the outskirts of the market. Food in hand King then led her on a mini tour of the city, hitting several places of interest to him, from the slayground, to the library and even the many restaurants that he and Eda frequented when she was too busy to cook. All in all the two had a rather enjoyable day all things considered.
Getting back to the Owl House, and tossing the remains of their lunch to Hooty as they pass the two are met with the sight of Eda sprawled out on the couch, one of her many large tomes open and held aloft by magic. Noticing the kids had made it back in one piece, Eda marked her page and set the book down on the coffee table with a flick of her wrist.
"How'd the deliveries go? Run into any trouble?" she asked as she pulled herself up into a sitting position.
"We met a weird wizard who tried to drug Luz with suspicious tea!" cackled King as he slipped off his perch on Luz's shoulder before running to claim a spot on the couch. Luz just gave a tired sigh as Eda rounded on her.
"What?!" Hissed Eda, the strange protective instincts that had been flaring up more and more lately coming to the forefront as she fussed over the teen to make sure that she as ok.
"Relax," assured Luz, seeing how worked up Eda was getting, "The last guy on the list just tried to get me to stay for tea. He gave me the creeps so I made an excuse and high tailed it out of there after I got the payment. Although that reminds me he did pretty much force me to take a weird scroll along with it."
Reaching into her bag to pull out the now slightly crumpled roll of parchment, Luz had it snached out of her hands by Eda who turned the still furled roll in her hands. Opening the weathered old scroll, Eda examined it. It was a map of some sort from what little Luz could see.
"Huh," grunted Eda in confusion, from what she was able to tell, it was just a strange map. The only thing of note she could identify was the slight citrusy smell of invisible ink. "Who'd you say gave this to you?"
"One sec," said Luz pulling out the list of names for the orders that day, "the invoice says Mr. A. Degast, he was an old guy with glasses and a robe. I think he was a potioneer also, he had a whole decanter of the same potion he ordered just sitting on a cart out in the open."
"Let me see that." said Eda, grabbing the sheet gently from the teen's hands. Taking a look at the name on the sheet she let out a growl. Well now she knew who it was that tried to mess with the kids, this would be the last time that she took an outside referral that's for sure.
"It was probably a good thing that you didn't accept that tea kid. The creepy wizard guy as you put it is a rival of mine in the potions game by the name of Adegast. He's a scam artist that sells watered down low quality potions at a premium and hates the fact that i get more business then him. He was probably trying to use you to get to me." Explained Eda tossing the map and list onto the table. It rather irked her that the puppet demon would try to use those close to her for petty revenge like that, but for now she'd shelve those feelings. The ball of slime that is Adegast would likely try something else soon anyways, the guy was nothing if not impatient afterall.
Adegast was absolutely LIVID, that little girl that Eda had delivering potions for her failed to fall for his excellent acting. He planned to have her fall for his act of being a kindly old wizard offering a quest of epic proportions, most kids her age would jump at the thought of being the chosen one afterall, but he didn't even get the chance to try and bait her in! For some reason she was wary of him, it was odd, his puppets were near perfect after all. It should have been easy, invite her for tea (that may or may not have been laced with a suggestibility potion), act like she was the chosen one, and bang! The kid would willingly head off into the forest to act as bait. But no, she ran off before he could even try!
Taking a deep breath to calm himself he focused on what he could salvage. First the girl had taken the map, that was a good thing at the very least, hopefully she would see the hidden message and investigate. If she didn't, well he could use the tracking spell woven into it to see where she was staying, maybe kidnap her or something? Eda wasn't one to use random people to handle her deliveries after all so the girl was likely important in some way. If he was really lucky the map would lead him to the Owl Lady's hideout, he knew that it was somewhere out on the western cliffs but he hadn't had time to go and search it down.
Checking the tracking spell on the map to see where the girl was, he found her out on the western cliffs, the same place that Eda's hideout was rumored to be. Smiling to himself he started to plan, first he would wait and see if she would follow the map out to the old altar in the woods, if the map didn't move by midnight he would move to a different approach, and try and sneak up to where she and hopefully the Owl Lady where staying. If the same rumors on where Eda lived are to be believed he may also want to get a couple of strong sleeping potions ready for if the 'Bird Worm' actually existed.
Cackling madly in delight at how his plans were coming to fruition, Adegast set off to get everything ready. All the while imagining all the things he could do to the customer stealing annoyance that was Eda the Owl Lady.
It was several hours later that Adegast made his move. The girl hadn't taken the bait with the map; it seemed as if it was still in the same place it was hours before. Stealthily making his way closer to his target he prepared himself and the four bottles of fast acting sleep potion he specially prepared for this. Creeping ever closer he saw his target, a large, cottage-esque house with the face of an owl set in the front door. He hit the jackpot, the house was obviously Eda's that made things much easier.
Taking a moment to study the area he went to work. Summoning up one of his puppets, he shoved the open bottle of potion into its chest, he would sadly have to sacrifice this particular puppet for the plan to work. Hopefully if things went according to plan though he would have another puppet to replace this one soon.
Sending in the small, cat-like puppet he made sure it was loud enough to catch the attention of whatever a 'bird worm' was. He didn't have to wait long to learn what it was as the owl carving on the door came to life in front of his very eyes. Stretching far more than should be physically possible, a tube of feathers, bone and flesh extended from the wood of the door, a terrible screeching voice emanating from its maw. "Hi there! Hooty hoot! Who are you?" it asked, it's screeching grating on Adegast's very brain.
Too stunned to even react, the puppet just stood there slack jawed for a moment before the terror that could only be described as a 'bird worm' went in for the kill. Devouring the puppet in one swift gulp, Adegast was only just able to pull his tentacle back in time to not lose it into the maw of a teeth lined throat. Shuddering he looked on in horror, no wonder no one who has attacked this place came back alive, the sheer unnaturalness of that thing would cause them to freeze giving it time to go in for the kill. Lucky for him, he had come prepared, soon the horror in front of him would be asleep and he could make his way to the inhabitants of the house while they slept.
There was one problem though, the thing just wasn't falling asleep. The potion that he had dosed it with was one of the fastest acting sleep potions out there, it should have taken effect almost instantly, didn't. In fact the thing seemed to perk up getting even more alert, more frantic in a way that made his blood chill.
"HOOT!" the thing all but screamed, its voice making his not existent bones itch like they were attempting to revolt and flee. He wanted to listen, wanted to flee, but he couldn't, all he could do was stare on in pure unadulterated terror as it fluffed up and started thrashing about, its black soulless eyes widened to into holes in the very universe where no light would escape, and it maw open revealing the endless tunnel of flesh and teeth just waiting to consume any and all that stand in its way as it writhed and contorted in ways and shapes that made him want to tear out his eyes. It was at that moment that a light came on inside, the large eye shaped window illuminating, it seemed that the Owl Lady was awake.
Eda was not a happy witch. It all started when the kids got home and she learned that one of her rivals managed to worm their way onto her client list and tried to use Luz for something by tricking her into following some weird map. The kid was smart enough to not buy it, but the fact that the ball of slime even tried pissed her off in ways that couldn't be described. Next, she had run out of her good apple blood without even realizing it, she had gone for a glass before bed to help her fall asleep only to find not even enough of the life giving liquid to fill a shot glass. So when she was unceremoniously woken up at two in the Titan damned morning, just as she had finally fallen asleep, by Hooty freaking out, it wouldn't be lying to say she was murderous.
Groaning and pulling the pillow over her head, she debated on even heading out there. Hooty, while annoying as all get out was more than powerful enough to handle pretty much any threat that came his way. She had watched him decimate entire squads of Emperor's Coven soldiers enough times to know that for a fact. The only thing that stopped her from saying screw it and going back to bed was the small voice telling her that it may be Adegast out there and reminding her of how much she wanted to end the ball of slime for messing with the kids. Climbing out of her nice, warm nest she stumbles over to the window.
Looking out a clear part of the large stained glass window that took up most of the northern wall of her room, Eda quickly spots what's going on. Hooty is flailing about the place like a mad man, his eyes blown wide and mouth stretched open. It reminded her of the time he got into her potion stash on accident and downed a bunch of sleeping potions. For some unknown reason the things have the exact opposite effect on him. Sighing she knows what happened, it seems that Adegast, had in fact, decided to make his move.
Slipping out of her room, Eda almost runs bodily into Luz and King as they groggily make their way out into the hallway. She was hoping that the kids would have slept through whatever was going on outside but she was sadly not that lucky. Turning to the kids she tells them to go back to bed. "I know what's going on," she says, guiding them back to the door of Luz's room, "you two head back to bed and I'll go calm down Hooty, ok?"
Giving a sleepy nod, Luz cuddles a near catatonic King closer to her before stumbling her way back into her room. Gently closing the door and placing a sound deadening spell on the room Eda slips away. Summoning Owlbert as she reaches the living room she readies herself for a fight. Not that she plans on Adegast being able to put up much of one, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
Forcing open the front door she pushes open the connection between her and Hooty. The house demon is the focal point for the many, many layers of several millennia old wards that crisscross the land that the Owl House sits on. Her connection to the wards as the Keeper of the House gives her the power to command the ancient house demon when necessary.
"S̴̛͓̯̫͕̱̞͐̈́̾͂͗t̸̛̟͖̝̓͑̚o̶̧̟͌̐͂̍͜͠p̵͎̪̘̟̹͔̙̓̑̓̇." she commands through the bond, forcing him to freeze in place, "Ȑ̴̲͇̱̳̇̈́̚è̴̢̢̪̮͉̔͜͠t̵̩̱̓̓̌̓u̶̬͂͑r̶͖̭͙͋̐̈́͗n̸͕͙̥̝̝̈́͝ ̶͎͔̝̻̰̥͐͗́̇̕͜t̵̜̖͙͍̮̻̔ȍ̴̫͙͗ ̶̼̠̲́̔̓̅y̸͉͇̗͚̓̉͆́͝ö̸͖́̃ứ̴̡̦̻̥̰̭̜̓͠͝r̸̡̖͐̓̈ ̴̹̫͐̈́p̸̪̚l̷͇͓̜̇̎a̸̘͖͚͊̂̓͂̄c̵̣̼̝̻̯̱͝ḙ̶̌̓."
In an instant the old house demon retracts back into the door. It is almost like watching time go in reverse as he slinks back into his usual place as the figurehead on the door. Turning to where she can sense the intruder pining on the wards like a light in the dark, she calls out to the delusional puppeteer demon who dared to try and harm that which was hers.
"Adegast," she commands, voice carried by magic as the ancient magic on the land thrums with power. "I know you're there, come out and I'll make this quick."
Adegast was sweating, this was the last thing that he wanted. He knew that in an all out fight that he wouldn't be able to take Eda, not by a long shot. The Owl Lady had earned her title as the strongest witch on the boiling isles after all. He had hoped to use the girl as a hostage to let him get close enough to Eda to take her out before she could react. Debating on running, he figured that it wouldn't work, Eda was looking directly at him after all. His only hope was to bluster his way out, distract her with his puppets and make an escape.
"Eda the Owl Lady!" He bellowed, stepping out from the shadows, his small army of puppets emerging behind him, "For too long you have stolen my customers out from underneath me! For your crimes you will be destroyed!"
Sighing, Eda watched as the mad puppeteer demon sent most of his puppets out in front after her. She had dealt with demons of his species before and knew that the constructs that they used could be dispersed with one good hit. The only hang up she would run into is their ability to cast magic if the puppet was made from the body of a witch. Luckily from what she could see, only a few of the puppets fell into this category, and they were all out front for her to deal with first.
Twirling Owlbert out in front of her, she summoned forth three large spell circles. Giving them a second to charge up she taped the center of each circle with the head of her staff, a ripple of magic spreading out from the point it contacted. As each ripple reached the ring of golden light floating in the air a different element shot out of each one, first ice, then fire and finally lightning.
The first shot fired razor sharp shards of ice, shredding the first few of the puppets. Then the fire hit, not only did it do its job of catching more of the puppets in its baze, but also worked double duty melting the ice leaving the ground wet for the next element, lightning. Tongues of white hot lightning shot forth from the last circle, dancing around the now soaked ground and catching the last few puppets in its wake. As the dust settled, Eda could only look on in disappointment, she was hoping for a better fight if she was being honest.
Adegast was horrified, he knew that the puppets that he sent out would be decimated, he planned on it in fact, but for them to get taken out that fast? In less than five seconds an army of his strongest puppets had been destroyed, not only that but only three spells had been cast. He was doomed!
Yawning, Eda just decided to end the fight here. She needed sleep and Adegast was too busy gaping in horror at what just happened to even put up a fight at the moment anyways. Using her finger to spin up one last spell, a lance of light shot forth and burnt a hole through the puppet demon's head, ending him instantly. She would let Hooty deal with the clean up, the house demon would enjoy the treat after all.
"Hooty," she called as she got to the door, "I left you a treat on the lawn, make sure it's gone by morning ok?"
Walking in she makes her way back upstairs. Hooty would handle the body so the kids wouldn't have to see it in the morning. Speaking of the kids, she popped her head into Luz's room as she passed to check on them. Both she and King were fast asleep, the little demon curled up on Luz's stomach and the teen was sprawled out hanging half off the bed. The sight brought a smile to her face. Luz was well on her way to recovery and King had not been as happy as he had been the last few weeks in a long time.
Slowly shuffling her way back to her nest, Eda drifted off to sleep with a smile. For the first time in years she had something to look forward to with the Kids, it felt nice to have a purpose again after so many years of drifting.
Hidden away, all but forgotten, an ancient being grinded as they watched a glimpse of the world outside reflected in a mirror. Its plans, well over a million years in the making, were coming to fruition. It would soon be free of this dammedable cage that it found itself in, free to make those that trapped it there pay for their transgressions.
Cackling, the being gave a gentle nudge to its favorite piece of the game, the heat of Titan thumping in the background as the piece moved unknowingly following the will of a being much greater than themself.
"Soon, Soon." it whispered to the dark of its cage as it faded back into the inky black that surrounded it.