The D&D Chronicles: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 15: Wanted Witches and Wicked Wardens Part 3
Nabakza Prison, Confiscation Room
David was still screaming.
Frida looked terrified too.
Patrick couldn't believe what had happened either, having finished a bit of training, what started off as what he hoped would be his first official task of being a Paladin by capturing a wanted criminal, only to discover that his sisters, Luz and Hilda's friends had bumped into her and made friends with her and her adorable buddy, King, allowed himself to help them retrieve King's 'crown', and now they were all cornered by Warden Wrath and some of the guards and to make things disturbing… Eda got her head cut off, and she's still alive!
"Eda," Luz cried out, "are you okay?!"
"Eh, I'm fine, kid," Eda shrugged it off, though showed signs of annoyance, "it's just a scratch."
"A scratch?" Patrick said, a little shocked, "Um… Eda, I don't know how to put this lightly, but… YOU JUST GOT YOUR FLIPPIN' HEAD CUT OFF!?"
"This just happens when you get older." Eda stated.
"Uh, maybe for you, but not for us!" Taylor exclaimed, as she looked at Eda's headless body, crawling around the ground, trying to find her head.
"Master Patrick!" the group heard Blinky's voice as the six-eyed troll appeared, along with him the rest of the group.
"Thank goodness, we found you!" Blinky cried, then noticed the others with him, "You found your sisters, along with Master David and Miss Luz and Miss Frida, too!"
"Blinky," Patrick asked, "what are the others doing here?"
"Looking for Luz and the others." Hazel explained, before seeing the group with him and waved, "Hey, guys."
"And where's Sophie?" Patrick added.
"Safe back at the castle." Chris replied.
Blinky then spotted the person… or, well, the head of the person that Patrick was carrying, instantly recognized her, as did Papyrus.
"The Owl Lady!" they both cried.
"Master Patrick," Blinky looked to him in shock, "are you working with the Owl Lady?!"
"Just to be clear, we didn't get a choice!" Taylor pointed out.
"Dude, Patrick, you're supposed to be the Paladin!" Raph said to Patrick, "Shouldn't you be doing your job on capturing her?"
"Wait," Eda said, as she looked to Patrick with a face that had a mix of shock, surprise and a bit of annoyance, "you're the new Paladin?!"
"It's a bit of an interesting story about that…" Patrick said with a sheepish grin and a nervous chuckle.
"That doesn't matter now," Wrath said, his hand changing back to normal as he approached them, "at long last, I have you cornered, Eda the Owl Lady."
Warden Wrath then snatched the crown away from King, who tried to jump to get it back, but way out of his reach, as the warden said, "My guards could never get you, but I knew if I took your pet's toy, you'd come running."
King looked in horror as Warden Wrath crushed the crown with his bare hand, leaving it now as a crumbled up bit of paper cardboard, "No! My power!"
Patrick looked to King, then to his friends, then back to the warden, let out a sigh as he knew just what he had to do, as he gave Eda to Luz, and brought out his sword as he said, "That's far enough, Warden Wrath."
"Patrick, what are you doing?!" Callum asked.
"Defending my friends," Patrick proclaimed, as he added while looking to Eda and the upset King, "even these guys."
Patrick then brought up his sword to Wrath as he claimed, "Warden Wrath, as a Paladin, it is my duty to protect those in need, and Eda is someone who deserves it more. She is someone who can't be imprisoned if she never did any wrong doings," he then muttered, "I hope…" then continued, "so I suggest that you let her and her friend go."
"Sorry, Paladin," Wrath replied, "but she's not going anywhere unless I say so."
The warden then struck Patrick backwards, landing by his sisters, as they checked if he was alright.
"What do you want with me?" Eda asked with a bit of annoyance, "I've never actually broken any of your stupid laws... in front of you."
"I want you…" Warden Wrath said with a stern voice… before bringing out some flowers as he said, "to go out with me."
"Wha…?" Eda raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, what?!" Patrick cried.
"Wait, what?!" Hilda and Taylor cried.
"What?!" Luz said in disbelief.
"Wait, what?" David and Frida said in surprise.
"WHAT?!" the others cried.
"Come again?" Blinky asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Go, boss!" called out one of the guards, as they gave him a bit of support, as the warden replied with a thumbs up, before looking back to Eda.
"Eda, you are the most extraordinary witch I have ever seen who's ran from the law many times." Warden Wrath admitted, "You've always eluded our capture. You've always been the one who got away. I found that alluring."
"I have so many mixed feelings about what you're saying right now." Patrick admitted to the warden.
"You stay out of this!" the warden cried, as he turned his hand into tentacles, grabbing hold of Patrick, his sisters, David, Frida and Luz, the latter dropping Eda's head, as Wrath then grabbed her by her hair and got her up to his height, "So how about it, Owl Lady? The most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles and the feared Warden Wrath. We'd be the strongest power couple ever. I mean, it's… it's not like you can say no right now."
Eda looked as she saw the kids in the warden's clutches, and one of the guards grabbing hold of King, while another kept the others at bay at the moment until she gave Wrath her answer.
"AAARRRGGHH!," Patrick grunted, trying to break free, "do something, please!"
"Pacifist." the big troll reminded him, as Patrick responded with a small groan.
She let out a sigh and said, "All right, Warden. You win. I'd just like to say something first."
"Come closer." Wrath leaned in, "No. Just come a little bit closer." he leaned even close "Just... Yeah, that's good."
Eda instantly blew a raspberry as she stuck her tongue out, much to the warden's startlement, which allowed Patrick and his friends to get free from his clutches, while Eda laughed at the warden's misfortune.
"Impudent wench!" Wrath growled in disgust, wiping his facemash for anything that got on there, before looking to Eda, "Don't you know how many germs are in your mouth? Ugh!"
"Get over it." Eda snapped back, "You had your guards stalk me, and then you cut off my head! I am not going out with you!"
Wrath snarled at Eda, "If you don't accept, then I have no choice but to des-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Patrick had quickly grabbed hold of Eda's staff and bashed him on the head, knocking him out and dropping Eda's head.
"Master Patrick! What did you do?!" Blinky exclaimed in disbelief.
Eda's head, meanwhile, attacked the other guards by covering their hoods over their faces.
"Great work, Patrick!" Hilda said with a smile.
"Okay, time to go!" cried Patrick, as he gathered his sisters, Luz, David, Frida, King and Eda (both head and body) together on Eda's staff.
"How do we fly this thing?" Patrick asked in panic.
"I don't know! Hang on!" Luz replied, as she then tried to say different types of spell-like words to make the staff fly, "Expecto… flying? Magicus… escapicus!"
Seeing Warden Wrath starting to get back up, Eda had no time to wait and yelled, "Gun it, magic stick."
The staff took off, taking the group with it, as Patrick then looked to the others and cried, "Run for it!"
Hearing this, the others did what he said and ran, as Eda's group flew off with them, just as Warden Wrath got back on his feet.
"Oh no, you don't," Wrath growled, as his hands became tentacles again and used them like stilts to chase after the heroes, "you won't get away from me this time!"
Meanwhile, the heroes were running as quickly as they could, and as Patrick turned to see Wrath chasing them, he quickly asked, "Can't this thing do any faster?!"
"We could toss out some non-essential weight." Eda snarky replied as she looked at him.
Patrick saw her looking at him and got what she meant, as he said with annoyance, "Very funny."
As they reached the holding cells, Patrick and Luz remembered about the prisoners they met.
"Eda, lend me a hand!" Luz cried, as Eda's body brought up her hand with Luz's and helped open the cells for Liz and the others, allowing them to ge out.
"This is really not how I trained you for, Master Patrick!" Blinky stated.
"To be fair, Blinky, those guys didn't do anything wrong that would have them locked up!" Patrick pointed out as they continued.
Prison Courtyard
The group soon arrived in the courtyard of the prison, and were almost to the front gate until the warden appeared and attacked Eda's group, knocking them off the staff and tumbling over to the others.
"Ow, my bones…" King groaned a little, as Eda put her head back on.
"Patrick, are you okay?" Callum asked.
Patrick gave a small thumbs up as he weakly replied, "A-okay…"
"I hope so," Chuckie said nervously, as he pointed to where the warden was, "because that crazy armed warden's coming for more!"
Warden Wrath started to approach the group, his hands now turning into sickles as he said to them, "I've been working hard and proud on keeping my record incheck, and I refuse to let it get broken today or any other day by hooligans like you!"
"Master Patrick, we must flee at once!" Blinky cried.
"Here," Eda said, as she took the key to her portal out of her hair and tossed it to Blinky, "take this and get the kids back to Delta Rune!"
"If you say so, Owl Lady!" Papyrus cried, as he grabbed David and Frida once more and carried them away from what would become a fight.
"Wait, what about you?" Ezran asked.
"We'll be fine!" Eda said, as she charged to the warden.
"Besides, if you think this guy is bad, you shoulda seen her last boyfriend." King added as he joined her.
"Not my boyfriend!" Eda stated, dodging a swish from one of the warden's sickle hands.
As the group started to run, Patrick suddenly stopped in his tracks, and looked back to the battle, seeing Eda risking her neck for them as she used her magic to fight back. He knew that some say that she was a criminal, but hearing that Luz and Hilda trusted her well… it meant that perhaps she might be a good person as well. Maybe.
Patrick then turned and rushed back into the fray, much to the others' shock.
"Patrick! What are you doing!" Taylor called back to her brother.
"I've gotta help them!" he cried, "We can't leave them here!"
"Master Patrick, please do the smart thing!" Blinky begged.
"It might not be the smart thing to do, but it's the right thing!" Patrick pointed out, as he rushed.
During the battle, Eda was then knocked down by the warden, who was about to bring the final blow, when suddenly, Patrick appeared and used his shield to block the sickles from striking down.
"What the-?" Wrath cried in surprise, "What are you doing, Paladin?!"
"Defending these two!" Patrick said in a serious tone, pushing the sickles back with his shield.
"We'll see about that!" Wrath snarled, as he took off his mask, revealing his face, being a huge mouth of large sharp teeth, as well as almost tiny eyes, which were difficult to see under a hood that he had not yet removed. He then breathed out fire at the Paladin, who quickly protected himself with his shield.
Patrick then charged in, sword in hand, as he once more used skills he learned from the Middle-Earth movies he watched, most notably a few defence moves, as Wrath attacked him with his sickles.
"Not bad, skills," Wrath complimented, "who would teached a child like you such swordsmanship?"
"Viggo Mortensen being one of them!" Patrick smirked.
"Who?" Wrath asked, only to leave his guard open, allowing Patrick to swing his sword upwards, causing the warden to almost lose his balance at that move.
"Wow, he's good!" King complimented, earning a small nod of interest from Eda.
As he saw the warden about to make another fire breathing attack, Eda got Patrick out of the way as she said, "I got this one!"
Wrath let out a breath of fire, only for Eda to make a spell circle, allowing the fire to go in, then did another spell circle, causing the fire to go out and right back at the warden, sending him flying to a prison wall with a crash.
Luz, meanwhile, ran up to Patrick to check if he was okay (carrying Eda's staff that she left on the ground), only for both of them to see what had happened between Eda and the warden.
As they looked, seeing Wrath get back up and charging once more to fight Eda, it revealed a destroyed part of the prison, and they saw Katya and the other prisoners peeking out to see what was going on.
"Hey, aren't those the prisoners we met?" Patrick asked, earning a nodding reply from Luz, as they soon went over to the broken wall and approached the prisoners.
"Why are you guys just standing there? This is your chance to escape!" Luz said, gesturing to them the way out.
"The warden will catch us. He always does." The Odd-counting prisoner explained with a sad look.
"We belong here…" the eye-eating monster nodded.
"Self‐doubt is a pwison you can never escape fwom." Tiny Nose added with a sad look, earning muttering agreements from the other prisoners.
Patrick felt bad hearing all this, then looked at them with determination as he said, "So, you have a different way of doing things, a different way of seeing things. That might make you weird," he did quote-on-quote with his fingers as he said that part, before continuing, "but it also makes you awesome. Don't you see?"
He then gestured to Luz as he continued, "my friend, Luz, here, is probably one of the biggest oddballs around where I live, and despite everything, she's one of my best friends, and I couldn't be more proud of her to be herself, that is something I'd never want to change."
Luz blushed upon hearing that.
"Why are you helping us?" Katya asked.
"Because us weirdos have to stick together." Luz proudly said, putting back on her cat ear hoodie and hopped on Eda's staff as it flew up, "And nobody should be punished for who they are."
The prisoners cheered upon hearing that, and Patrick earned Luz a nod of agreement.
"All right, you oddballs," Patrick said proudly, leading the charge, "let's get 'em!"
Back with Eda and King, they were backed to the corner as the warden approached, sickles in the air, "No more running away, Owl Lady. Today I capture you once and for all!"
As Eda and King braced for the worst, they suddenly heard cheering screams as Patrick, Luz and the prisoners charged at Warden Wrath, and began attacking him as they got hold of him, much to Eda, King and the others' surprise.
"I count and speak in odds!" the odd prisoner cried.
"I eat my own eyes!" added the eye-eating monster.
Tiny Nose tripped the warden as she said, "I think the world as a twiangle!"
"And I practice the ancient art of fanfiction!" Katya added, as she tied up Wrath's tentacle arms in a knot, as Patrick and Luz approached him.
"Who do you fools think you are?!" he growled.
"Do not underestimate us, Warden Wrath!" Luz boldly said.
"For I am Patrick Lee Kirby, Paladin of Xadador!" Patrick said proudly, holding his sword in the air.
"And I am Luz Noceda, warrior of peace." Luz added, acting like her character Azura from one of her books or their D&D campaigns… before crying out, "Now eat this, sucker!"
From her bag, Luz then took out and throwed the fireworks that she had with her, and stuffed it in Wrath's mouth, and because he breathed fire, a small flame ignited the fuse, causing the fireworks to explode in his mouth, and set off a display into the sky, while the warden ran off, his mouth burning from the exploding fireworks, while the others cheered in victory.
"You still kept those fireworks, didn't you?" Patrick smirked as he eyed Luz.
"Well, I didn't want them to go to waste or anything." Luz smiled, as the others gathered around.
"That was actually one of her better breakups." King said, as he watched Warden Wrath retreat.
"Not a breakup." Eda said to King.
The group of friends, both old and new, watched as the cheering prisoners made their escape, while waving goodbye to their new friends.
"I don't know about you guys, but I believe we can say that Warden Wrath's record is officially broken." Patrick smiled.
"That was cool!" Raph grinned.
"Yeah," Hazel nodded, "and this will make a great story to tell when we get back to Delta Rune."
The group suddenly went wide eyed when Hazel said, and remembered of what had happened. Patrick and most of his friends had caused a jailbreak, and made friends with a wanted witch, and taken on the warden of the prison.
Patrick looked to Blinky, as he shared a worried look as he asked, "You… don't think anyone's going to be completely annoyed about what has happened here, do you?"
Delta Rune, Dreemurr Castle, a little later…
"I AM COMPLETELY ANNOYED ABOUT THIS!" Vendal's bellowing voice was so loud it could be heard around the castle.
Upon returning to Delta Rune, the group were brought to Dreemurr Castle, as it turned out that word went fast and everyone heard of what had happened in Nabakza Prison.
Patrick and his friends, both human and fantasy, were gathered around the throne room, with Eda and King by their side (Taylor looking after Kira after being handed by the nanny of the castle), waiting for the royal family to arrive, while they did, they were having a major yelling at by Vendal, as he too, heard what had happened. And boy was he mad.
"From what I've heard, not only did the Paladin's friends fraternize with the wanted Owl Lady, as well as aiding her in both a break-in and a jail break in Nabakza, but the Paladin was in on this as well, not to mention fought back the warden of the prison himself!" Vendal fumed, as the others looked a little uneasy at this.
"All this under your watch too, Blinkous!" he added, looking to Blinky as the troll felt like he was in a deep hole.
"To be fair, Vendal," Patrick spoke up, much to Blinky's worry, "the prisoners that we helped escape didn't do anything wrong. They didn't deserve to be locked away for abnormal behaviour, especially for some of which are inherent in some residents because of their characteristics."
"Would it be wrong if I say that he doens't speak for us?" Eda asked Luz.
"Eda!" Luz eyed her.
"Kidding." Eda grinned.
"I've heard enough of this." Vendal grumbled.
"Vendal, no need to take it out on the Paladin." Blinky tried to help, "He was only doing-"
"An idiotic move that could make the line of Paladins become a laughing stock!" Vendal then fumed.
"Alright, that's enough, Vendal."
A new voice got everyone's attention, one that they all recognized (even, oddly enough Eda and King).
They turned and saw Asgore and Toriel, having entered the throne room, their not with them at the moment, as Asgore then said with a stern, "We'll take it from here."
Oddly enough, of everyone here, the one who was more stern to see them was Eda, as she approached them with a serious look.
"You two." she sternly said, seemingly with a bit of annoyance.
"It's been a while since we last saw you, Owl Lady." Toriel said, also in a stern matter.
"Give me one good reason I shouldn't turn you both into rabbits!" Eda growled.
"If you do that, you'll be in for the biggest punishment of your life." Asgore pointed out.
The others looked nervous as they heard that, as Luz panicked, "Your majesties, she doesn't speak for us! We're sorry you have to hear this!"
"This is between us, Miss Noceda." Toriel said, before looking to Eda, "And, as for you…"
The three of them looked at each other with stern death glares, as soon there would be a dangerous struggle to come… and then…
They laughed.
"It's so great to see again, Eda!" Toriel smiled between giggles.
Asgore chuckled as he said, "We missed you for quite a while!"
"It's been quite a while you two." Eda grinned.
Seeing this, the others looked baffled at what was happening.
"Wait, what's going on?" Patrick asked.
"They… know each other?" Hilda also asked.
Just then, Asriel arrived into the throne room, and as he saw Eda, he gasped with joy, "Auntie Eda!"
Eda looked and saw Asriel approach her, as she happily smiled, "There's my little godchild."
Asriel then jumped up and hugged Eda, who then said with a light chuckle, "Asriel, you know what we said about me not being quite a hugger."
"I know!" Asriel grinned.
"Waitaminute?" Patrick looked to Eda, then to Asriel, then back to Asriel, then Eda. Same with his friends (minus the fantasy ones) as they looked to both people.
"YOU'RE ASRIEL'S GODMOTHER?!" they all cried out.
"I sure am," Eda smiled, as she put down Asriel and asked, "and how's been your magic lessons, Asriel?"
"Great!" Asriel happily replied, "Check out this magic trick I learned!" he once more got out his marbles, and then did the marble trick with the air magic that he showed the others yesterday.
"Attaboy, Asriel." Eda smiled, patting his head.
"Can someone please explain what is going on here?" Callum asked.
"For starters, how do you know Eda?" Luz added.
"And, like, how is Eda, a wanted criminal, the godmother of Asriel?" Chuckie also asked.
"Eda was one of our best friends from childhood," Toriel explained, "we have known her for her rebellious behaviour for a long time."
"Guilty on that." Eda chuckled.
"She has been known, when she was young, for her frequent outbursts of reckless, criminal or defiant behaviour, which often resulted in her getting in trouble." Asgore pointed out, "Luckily, she had us to keep an eye on her at times."
"Still, despite the trouble she got into, she was still our friend." said Toriel, earning a smile from Eda when she heard that.
Asgore then gestured to his son as he said, "And when Toriel was pregnant with Asriel, we asked Eda to be his godmother."
"Of course, it would be tricky for Eda to be around to help out," Toriel said, "especially for being on the run at times."
"While I'm annoyed you have that Cedric fellow to teach Asriel, I'm happy that he wants to be great like Auntie Eda." Eda stated.
"Thanks, Auntie Eda," Asriel smiled, "you're the best!"
"That's so sweet." Hilda smiled.
"Wow, I did not know that." Papyrus said, AAARRRGGHH! nodded in agreement, while Sans just shrugged.
"While it is touching, do not forget that she is in big trouble." Vendal stated, a little bit ruining the moment.
"It's alright, goatee." Eda said, "I know when we're not needed."
"So, you're going?" Ezran asked.
"Aw, already?" Asriel asked with upsetness in his voice.
"'Fraid so, kid." Eda pointed out sadly, while King looked down with sadness.
"Before you do go," Luz said, as she approached King, then got out her doll she also used for her book report, taking off her crown as she handed it to King and said, "I know it's not the same, but... a king shouldn't be without a crown."
King looked to the crown, then happily placed it on his head, "This shall suffice."
He then got out the rabbit toy from Nabakza, which he named Francois, and said, "Francois, ready the chariot, we ride soon!"
"So you really have to go, Eda?" Patrick asked.
"I'm afraid so," Eda nodded, then smirked as she said, "but I have to say, you were quite good back there. If you were able to take on Wrath, then I think you'll be able to tackle anything."
"Thanks, Owl Lady," Patrick smiled after hearing that, before playfully smirked, "I'll look forward to catching you soon."
"You'll have to catch me first." Eda winked.
"I suppose you were good…" Taylor admitted.
"Thanks," Eda smiled, "and like your brother, you weren't so bad yourself."
As she saw Eda and King say their goodbyes, Luz took out the books that she recovered from Eda when they met from her bag.
"Here, Frida." she said, giving Frida her book, "I believe this is yours."
"Thanks, Luz." Frida smiled.
Luz smiled back and then looked at her book, and up to a mirrored wall of the throne room… and then lightly gasped as she noticed something.
She brought up her book, and looked to the cover: showing the protagonist Azura in the middle, holding her staff proadly, and on both sides of her, were two characters, an old witch dressed in a red cloak and a fluffy little doglike creature. As she lowered the book, she saw Eda and King in the characters' place, and herself in place of… Azura.
Amazed by this, she had an idea, then turned to the group as she looked to Eda.
"Okay, can I say something, Eda?" Luz asked the Owl Lady, before saying, "I know you got your head cut off, and we started some kind of prison riot, but this was the most fun I've ever had."
The others were puzzled by what she said, as she continued, "I know that you don't quite fit in at times. Neither do I. So maybe, we can help Patrick and our friends, by not fitting in together."
"Uh, what are we talking about?" Eda asked.
Luz smiled as she said, "I would like to learn how to become a witch like you… and Azura!"
"Whoa, really?" Patrick asked, quite stunned.
"What?" most of the group said in a small bit of surprise.
"Miss Noceda," Blinky then spoke up, "to learn magic, you need to find yourself a teacher who can do magic."
"I know," Luz beamed, as she turned to Eda, "and I'm looking at one right now."
Eda was now very stunned and shocked hearing this, "Me?! Uh, heh, I… uh, hate to remind you, Luz, but I'm kind of on the run here."
"That we can both agree on." Vendal grumbled.
When hearing all this, Toriel and Asgore had a small thought, then smiled and nodded to each other in agreement, as the latter said, "That can be sorted out."
The others looked to the king and queen, as Toriel looked to Eda with a smile as she said, "Edalyn Clawthorne, Owl Lady of Delta Rune. As King and Queen of Delta Rune, we hereby have you… pardoned for your criminal activities."
Everyone was stunned and surprised to hear this, but no one more than Eda, King and Asriel.
"Does that mean…?" Asriel started to, only to respond with a nod from her mother.
"It'll look like you'll be seeing more Aunt Eda after all." Toriel smiled.
"That's… amazing!" Patrick smiled, the others happy to hear this too.
"Heh, thanks, Tori." Eda smiled at her old friend.
"Of course, you are pardoned, on one condition." Asgore smiled as he eyed her in a positive way.
"Oh, boy, I was wondering if there was a catch…" Eda rolled her eyes a little, before asking, "And that would be…"
"You are to have Miss Luz Noceda here as your new apprentice." Asgore said as he gestured to Luz.
Eda looked to Luz, who had the sweetest smile on her face as she looked to her and said, "Please, Eda? If you teach me to become a witch, I'll do anything you want."
"Do it, Eda!" King pleaded to Eda, before whispering, "She can make us snacks."
Asriel then got Eda's attention, as he made the cutest pleading face as he said, "Please, Aunt Eda?"
"C'mon, who can't say no to this cute little face?" Hilda echoed what Eda said to them, and even joined Asriel with the cute plea face routine, earning a warm smile and a chuckle from Eda.
She then picked up King in her arms as she said, "Well, I could use a hand keeping this goofball out of the cupboards." then looked to Asriel as she added, "And it would be nice to see my godchild more often from time to time, maybe teach him a few spells of my own."
Asriel smiled hearing that.
"Alright then," Eda said to Luz, the royals and the rest of the group, "I'll teach Luz how to be a witch." she then added as she looked at Luz, "But know that you have to work for me before you learn any spells."
She then held out her hand, "Deal?"
Luz could only smile at this, and went up and gave Eda and King a hug.
"I want in too!" Asriel happily giggled, joining in the hug.
"What did I say about not being a hugger?" Eda stated, being caught in the hug.
"Too tight! Too tight!" King squeaked, as he was caught in the middle like a sandwich.
"Well, Eda, I think you're gonna have to get used to these hugs when you're with us often." Patrick chuckled, as did most of the others.
The King and Queen, Blinky and Vendal looked at what was happening, as the latter looked to Toriel and grumbled, "Was it really necessary to do that?"
"I think that this would be a good fresh, new start for Eda," Toriel said, as she looked on to Eda and Luz, "After all that she has learned, I'm sure she'll teach the girl what she knows."
"You do know the others at the council will have quite amount of doubts and says about this."
"We'll see, Vendel," Toriel said, "we'll see."
She then looked to Patrick and his friends, chatting about what had happened and added, "And the Paladin will need help from his friends, especially with one of them wanting to learn magic."
"Well said, my dear." Asgore said, as he pecked her with a kiss.
"Indeed, your majesty," Blinky nodded in agreement, "Master Patrick would no doubt need all the help he can get for what maybe yet to come."
Kirby House, later…
Following quite the experience from today, it was time for everyone to return home.
Of course, Hilda forgot to ask about the possible ghost that helped with her work, then had a small thought of what to do when she and her older siblings got back.
Later, in her room she was busy writing something when Patrick came in.
"Hey, sis," Patrick smiled, "whatcha doing?"
"Doing a thank you letter." she responded.
"Really? For who, Eda?"
"The ghost."
"You mean the ghost that could have been the one that helped with your homework?" Patrick asked.
"Yep, I think it's good to say 'thank you' to them, though it would be nice to see them too." Hilda smiled, as Patrick looked to the letter that she was writing.
It said: Dear Mr. Ghost, thank you very much for helping out on the questions on my worksheet earlier. It was very kind of you to help, and I wonder if we can get a chance to meet up. It's okay if you don't want to, but it would be nice if you could.
From Hilda
Once Hilda had finished writing, she rolled up her letter and placed it on top of her desk, and then got into bed.
"I wonder if the ghost will read my letter…" Hilda thought aloud.
"I'm sure the ghost will." Patrick smiled, as he headed out of Hilda's room and said, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Patrick." Hilda smiled, before falling asleep.
Soon, after the lights were off and Patrick shut the door, the room was quiet once more… until something from the small crack came out, and as it reached the desk, it came up to the letter.
Owens House
Frida had just said goodbye to David, as she approached her home.
It was a nice house that had a white exterior. There were at least two floors. There was a bathroom on the second floor at the end of the hallway. Frida's bedroom was also on the second floor.
As she entered through the door, she thought she heard some thumping sounds coming from the living room, she went over and saw her dad, holding a broom and eyeing one of the walls of the living room.
Frida's dad was a middle-aged, dark skinned man with black hair that is turning gray at the temples. He had on a sleeveless-olive green jumper, worn over a long sleeved white shirt with a light blue tie.
His name was Wallace Owens, and he and his wife, Edith, were very proud of how well their daughter did at school, though hoped if they could find a way for her to excel in her lessons.
The said wall, meanwhile, seemed to have had holes, as if something got pierced through them.
"Uh, dad?" Frida asked, "What's going on?"
Wallace turned and saw his daughter, "Oh, hello, Frida."
He looked back at the wall as he then added, "I don't want to alarm you, but I think there's something living in the walls."
Frida was baffled by what he meant, but as Wallace made a hard tap on the wall, the plastering on the wall instantly collapsed.
"Goodness, Wallace, what happened?" Edith, Frida's mum, cried as she came into the room.
She was a dark skinned woman with short black hair. She had on a nice yellow dress, and had a white jumper on over it.
As the dust from the collapsed wall cleared, Frida and her parents looked at what they found.
What they saw almost looked like the inside of one of the rooms of a dollhouse, only it was in the wall for some odd reason.
But as they took a good look, Frida spotted something.
"Hey, that's my satch!" she cried as she picked up her satch that was in there.
Wallace picked up a pair of keys and recognized them, "Aren't these my car keys? I've been looking everywhere for them."
Frida then spotted some jewelry as she then spoke to her mum, "Mum, I… think these must be your earrings and necklace."
"Why, they are!" Edith was stunned at that.
"How did they get in there?" she asked her husband.
"I'm not sure," Wallace replied, "but I think we better call the repairmen in the morning to fix up this wall."
Frida was still stunned to see the stuff there as well, though while she solved who took her book with her friends, she was now a little stumped on who stole the other items and hid them in the wall.
Unbeknownst to her and the family, as they skirmished through the odd mess, something peek through a hole nearby and saw what was happening… and let out a small angry grumble…
Brady Oaks Museum of History and Culture
Located near the main street of Brady Oaks is the Museum of History and Culture.
The museum was a stone building with multiple skylights and a dome. It had several floors and a roof accessible by a door. Besides the main entrance, the museum also had a back door.
It was here that many different exhibits of different eras, as well as different cultures of history, were brought to for display for many to see and learn from.
These exhibits in the different interiors included Medieval, WWII, Artwork, Media, Victorian, Prehistoric/Stone/Bronze Age, Roman Empire, Egyptian, Chinese, 20th century, Western, Pirate and even Retro.
Other exhibits included rare and valuable jewels and treasures, such as the Klopman Diamond and the Lustrous Jewel.
The museum would be open at 9:30am, and then closed at 9pm at night.
It was currently nighttime, so the museum was closed at this time, but it would make things vulnerable for thieves to try and break in. Luckily, there were night guards that would take different shifts during this time, so it made things easier to prevent the exhibits from getting stolen.
Lobby Area
Inside, in the lobby, the first main room tours would start in, a circular reception and an intersection to other rooms, with stairs for anyone to take to get to the upstairs rooms, all the lights were switched off and all was quiet and peaceful… until a small conversation broke the silence as two night guards were chatting… well, one night guard was, as the other was getting a little bit quite annoyed listening to him.
Both of them wore all black uniforms, black jumpers with shoulder pads, black jeans and black caps that had the words security on them, while a badge on their jumpers had the letters 'B.O.M.' for the first letters of Brady Oaks Museum.
"Yeah so, apparently there was something in that cake, and he used it to escape," the guard talking said, as he was explaining what had happened at his last job, "and then I got fired. Pretty lame, huh?"
"Ugh," the other guard groaned, "please, shut up, Dave."
"Oh… I'm sorry, Kurt…" Dave nervously and awkwardly chuckled, as he then continued rambling as they walked, much to Kurt's chagrin, "I was just trying to have a conversation. You know? Since, I mean, we're partners so… …I just-just wanted to… …Get-get to know each other a little bit. You know? I just kind of wanted to have a conversation. Just, you know, just to lighten things up I mean… …What's gonna happen in a museum? I mean, really."
Just then, Dave thought he heard a light thump, and turned around, "What the…?"
"What now?" Kurt grumbled, as he turned in Dave's direction and shone the flashlight, where it revealed in the dark one of the lion statues from china.
"Did… did you hear something?" Dave asked.
"Yeah," Kurt replied with a groan, "I could hear you babbling on and on about this job position and your last one."
Dave turned and saw Kurt starting to leave the room, as he rushed up to follow him… unaware that behind the statue… Ghoular was there, letting out a small, quiet snarl as he watched the two night guards leave.
"No, no, really. I thought I heard something back there." he heard Dave started talking again as he caught up with Kurt, "Y-you don't think this place could be haunted do ya? I mean-I've known a bit about ghosts and…"
"This is not worth $11.50 an hour…" Kurt grumbled under his breath as Dave continued rambling, as they exited the lobby via one of the doors to explore the other rooms of the museum.
Once the coast was clear, Ghoular stepped off the statue and wandered through the museum to his destination, making sure to not be seen by any other guards that might cross his path.
Ghoular arrived in one of the large grand exhibition rooms, the entrance he went through was draped in walkthrough construction curtains.
Around parts of the room, were several construction platforms, with about 12 wooden boxes, most of them being big, medium or small, scattered around the room.
At the center of the room, writing things down on a clipboard, was a tall, middle-aged man, Caucasion, and a bald spot on his head with a small tuft of grey hair, and a large, box shaped nose. He wore a blue shirt under a light brown jacket, with darker brown pants and dark brown shoes.
"We build it here?" Ghoular asked, "Right under their noses? Are you a fool, Valron?"
"Well, of course we're building it here, Ghoular," the man, revealed to be Valron in human form, said, as he turned to look at the troll who was questioning what they were doing, while ignoring the last question, "that's kind of what 'incognito' mea-"
Valron didn't finish his sentence, as Ghoular grabbed him by the throat.
"Don't patronise me… impure." Ghoular growled.
"Oh, Ghoular, Ghoular…" Horvath's voice was heard by both Troll and Tiefling, as the young dark wizard appeared, Mokdu and Featherfang by his side, "Surely, you must have heard that the best hiding place is in plain sight."
Horvath then snapped his fingers, as a sign of telling the troll to drop Valron, which he did, allowing the Tiefling-in-human form to adjust his collar and soothe his neck that was strangled a while by Ghoular, his eyes glowing with annoyance.
"So you want to have it built here, so these mortals can have a good look at it?!" Ghoular snarled at Horvath, "What about what you said of keeping a low profile?"
Horvath, brought his fingers to the bridge of his nose, then looked to Ghoular, "We both want the same thing, Ghoular. Plus, I understand that you and I both can't stand waiting, but, unlike you, I have done well on being patient, and that it takes time for the Changelings to make sure they gather all of the pieces."
"What is it that they're looking for, boss?" Mokdu asked, scratching his head.
"Allow me to show an example." Horvath said to the imp, before taking out something from his pocket, "Behold!"
In his gloved hand was a piece of stone.
Mokdu looked at it carefully… before he said, "It's… a rock… oh! Is this your pet rock? Aw, that's cute! I bet you called it 'Boulder'? Hmmmhmmmhmm."
Horvath let out a little groan as he then said with a growl, "It's a piece of Ragnarok Bridge… idiot!"
"Sorry…" Mokdu shrank.
Horvath looked to the stone in his gloved hand as he explained, "Following the Battle of Ragnarok Bridge, Dorlaia sealed away the bridge's entrance to the Shadowfell, before helping out take apart the bridge. Piece by piece. Rock by rock. Stone by stone."
"This was the very first piece I found during my travels these last centuries," he continued, "and I have learned that while the bridge can be taken apart, the bridge can't be destroyed permanently, but only disposed of."
He then gestured to the boxes that laid before them, "When the fools took apart the bridge, they scattered the many pieces of it as they could across every country, every state, every nation, every continent of the world, buried and lost to time… until now."
"Which is why we have the Changelings to help us." Featherfang stated.
"Exactly," Horvath smiled at the familiar, "thanks to humans wanting learn of the past with historians and archaeologists, it makes the perfect opportunity to bring the Changelings into the picture, take part of these expeditions and find the pieces across the globe, thus bringing them here… to us."
"The more pieces of the bridge the Changelings find," Valron said, "the more close we will get to fully building the bridge."
"We're gonna need a lotta glue to put this back together." Mokdu stated, earning annoyed looks from the others, even more so as he added, "I'll go get a glue gun or two."
"No, you dimwitted dunderhead," Horvath grabbed Mokdu by the throat, "the bridge is no priceless vase that a child would try to fix up so mummy and daddy wouldn't notice."
He let go of him as he showed him the piece in his hand, and explained, "As I said, like magical energy, the bridge can't be destroyed, only disposed off, and while it feel hard to fix up the bridge, I learned that the bridge is a combination of both light and dark magic."
"And… how does your piece fit into this?" Mokdu asked, "And wouldn't it take forever to find each piece and put together?"
"Perhaps, for some mortals…" Horvath continued, "It took time, but I was able to master an ability to make the dark magic of my piece strong. Thus, would allow the magic of each stone to awaken, and help come back together again."
"Like a jigsaw puzzle!" Mokdu said excitedly, seemingly getting it in his head.
Horvath looked to him with an unamused look as he said, "Yes… it's like a magic jigsaw puzzle."
He then looked to one of the boxes, and opened it up, revealing several stone pieces, Ghoular followed and opened another box, containing another load of pieces.
He then looked in his hand, still holding his piece, and used dark magic on it, causing it to glow a sinister dark, blackish purple and red.
Soon, in two of the boxes, one or two of the pieces contained in them began to glow the same colour, and then floated out of the box. The pieces then instantly began to connect with each other, almost exactly like what Mokdu said, like being a jigsaw puzzle. Once they were connected, Ghoular looked at the pieces that connected into a whole new piece, as it landed in his hands, and growled a dark grin at this.
"Like a jigsaw puzzle." Mokdu whispered to Valron, as he nudged him with a smirk, much to the secretive Tiefling's annoyance.
"Remarkable." Featherfang said with wonder, as he then turned to Horvath, "The Dark Lord's centuries of waiting and your training will all be paid off."
"And by the the time anyone notices, it will be too late." Varlon added.
Horvath smiled upon hearing this, though it wasn't a very pleasant one, but a very sinister one at that, as he looked to his piece, as it let out a dark glow, small dark purple and red wisps leaking off it as it did with his gloved hand, then looked to the boxes that contained the remaining pieces of the bridge.
"Few down… several more to go." Horvath, clenching his piece as he let out a dark chuckle as he added, "And then… the real fun begins…"
Author's Notes:
Here we go, a new member has joined our heroes' party, might make that two!
I bet you were surprised that I made Eda a godmother for Asriel, cause I thought it would be quite interesting and, perhaps, be a bit of fun having her being a close family friend to the Dreemurrs
There will be a few small problems next time
Plus, if any of you are wondering about two certain animal companions for Hilda and Ezran, don't worry, we'll be seeing them soon enough
Now for the references
The museum at the end, along with the night guards, are based off from the Henry Stickmin series, with the game, Stealing the Diamond
The two gems in the exhibit, the Klopman Diamond and the Lustrous Jewel are references to the fictional Klopman Diamond, a fictional gem known to having a curse, which was also used as a running gag, most notably in the Garfield and Friends show, and Land of the Lustrous manga and anime
Until next time, True Believers!
Excelsior!