Chapter 6: Room for one more (?)

"My, my... How the mighty have fallen." Kikimora mused with a smile, as she eyed the Golden Guard's unconcious form, still trapped in the Abomaton's grip, before she turned to the scouts. "You two. Go alert the other search parties."

"Yes, ma'am. Right away, ma'am." The formerly complaining scout said, clearly relieved to be done with this mission, only to be stopped by his comrade.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am. But, his staff is gone. Isn't that-"

"Unimportant. It probably just broke. Besides, the emperor asked only for the Golden Guard, and now I have him. The mission is over. So, get going like I commanded." Kikimora cut him off, her voice bearing an edge she was struggling to hide.

"O-of course!" The scout stuttered, as his comrade was already pulling him away.

And the moment they left, her expression changed into something more sinister. "Unfortunately, the emperor asked for you to be brought back alive. He must want the satisfaction of taking you out for himself. However... I don't see why I can't have a little fun first!" Three spheres of fire formed in her fingers and she stepped closer to the Golden Guard. "I would prefer it if you were concious, but apparently, we can't have everything in this life. For ruining the mission in Latissa! And for every other time you made me look bad-!"

...!

Before she could touch him, something hit her in the back. It came from behind, from the side, she wasn't sure. Whatever it was, though, as soon as it hit it disappeared. And then it came again. And again. And again. Until it brought her to the ground. And every time she, or even the Abomaton, tried to counter it or hit it back, again it disappeared, leaving her only with a glimpse of a yellow glow and a strange sound.

"This is not funny! Who goes there?! Show yourself!" She called out, as she stood up looking around warily with a sphere of fire in her hand, ready for her attacker's next move.

However, she wasn't the target this time.

She turned around at the sound of something falling and saw that the Abomaton had releashed the boy, its hand mushed into the ground. And before she could react, the second arm exploded too, while its head was spinning and it was stumbling around trying to keep its balance, small sparks of magic going off around it.

Realizing what would happen (her mind trying to think of the 'how'), she was about to run, but before she could, the Abomaton collapsed, burying her in a pile of sludge and metal parts.

And right before that, a dirty and pretty pissed off cardinal emerged from a yellow glow, flying above the mushed Abomaton.

You're done messing with my witch, you little monster!

But soon his expression changed to a worried one, as he flew over to Hunter. He was still unconcious, but at least he was still breathing. That had to be something. Right?

Nonetheless, they couldn't stay there! He needed to get Hunter help now!

He reshaped the staff, trying to get him on it. While he could hear from behind Kikimora, pulling herself out of the goop.

And having only her arm out, she sent yet another blast. Which, by the time she got her head out, was gone. Along with her target.

"And... push! And push! And push! And... push...!" Eda kept repeating in rhythm, while she and the girls kept pushing yet another large pot outside the house.

"Whew...! Man, those things are heavy..." Luz breathed, as they finally got it out with the other seven of them, and then proceeded to collapse on the ground. "Please tell me this was the last one."

"Yes, Luz. That was the last one." Amity laughed a little as she helped Luz up, holding each other's hands and gaze probably a second too long.

Until a thunder clap reminded them there was still work to be done.

Amity took a deep breath, her attention now turned to the pots. "Abominations. Rise."

And at her command, eight large abominations emerged, while she brought out a staff with a white cat as a palisman, and gracefully spun it around in a big circle. The abominations all gathered together in a shpere, that rose up above the house, as the young witch lifted her staff. And once it seemed to be high enough, she abruptly brought it to the ground, and the shpere's shape changed into a tent that covered the entire house.

"There. That ought to keep the house intact." She said with a smile, turning to face an impressed Eda and an awestruck Luz.

"Oh my gosh, you're so cool...!" Luz breathed and Amity's proud smile turned into a flustered one, before Eda stepped in, ruffling the latter's hair.

"Yeah, you're getting real good with these things, aren't you Boots?"

Half-laughing, half-growling, Amity pulled away from the older witch, trying to get her hair back in check.

She still hadn't really gotten used to this. The genuinity in their voices whenever they said something nice to her, the hair-ruffles, the insistance in giving help, the way they worked. With all the joking and the wrong ingredients and the occasional explosion of goop that provoked laughter and a goop-fight, instead of barating and/or punishment...

Nonetheless, as new and sometimes overwhelming as it was, she was loving all of this new normal. The smile she gave the other two showed as much. But deep down, another part of her was still ruining this... As if a little voice was whispering in the back of her mind: 'Enjoy this while it lasts...'.

Why wouldn't it last? Why did she still have to think like that? Why couldn't she just stay happy-!?

...!

A sudden sound from some nearby trees got the attention of the trio. And this time, it wasn't a thunder. It actually sounded pretty familiar, at least to one of them.

"Hey, wait a minute. Is that...?" Luz wondered aloud, stepping towards the sound. And her eyes went wide when she saw its source. "Lil' Rascal?!"

The bird was making its way towards her with little jumps, part of his right wing black, and he kept chirping at her with a sense of urgency and fear.

"What are you doing here? What happened to you?" She asked worriedly and went to pick him up. But before she could, he started moving back where he came from, stopping a second later to look back at her and the other two. "Something bad, I can only guess."

There were... lights. Small little lights all around. They looked like stars at first glance, but they were far too close to be (Plus they were floating, stars are steady.). Their glow was soft, brightening the room just enough, so even though there was quite a few of them, it wasn't too bright. Just the perfect amount of dark and light. Useful enough to keep you awake, soothing enough to blanket you into sleep. Which for a moment Hunter was almost tempted to let happen. But then-

"Hello!"

"AAAAH!" He abruptly jerked up (the adrenaline making him ignore the pain on his shoulder) and punched the... strange owl-face that greeted him. Only two inches away from his own face.

And as he tried to get his breathing back under control, his gaze was frantically wandering around the room, taking in his surroundings.

He was lying on a couch. And he could make out a bookshelf among other things. A pretty loud pitter-patter was heard from outside, which must've meant it was raining. There was a blanket over the lower part of his body and...

...

He got a little dizzy again...

"It's okay, little buddy. No one will hurt you. You're safe here." And the voice of that... owl... snake... thing was making it worse. That and the fact that it was once again shoving its face to him. Hadn't it ever heard about personal space?

"What is here? Where am I? What are you?" He asked, shoving it off of him. If it was going to keep talking, it might as well tell him something useful.

"Hooty! That pretty much answers all your questions. What about you? What's your name? Where'd you come from?"

Hunter chose to (try to) ignore it, as it kept barraging him with questions, his focus now turning to himself.

He was wearing a black t-shirt that had written on the chest with white letters 'No.1 Bad Boy' (?). And a little below the right sleeve, he could see something white. It wasn't part of the shirt. It was... an actual bandage, wrapped around his shoulder, with a couple of healing glyphs on it. And he had one wrapped around his leg and arm as well.

What happe-!

...!

Hardly finishing that thought, his last concious moments hit him like thunder.

Kikimora and the scouts. His attempt to escape. The Abomaton. His-...!

"Do you like bugs? Cause I love bugs! What's your favorite-"

"Where's my palisman?!" Hunter demanded angrily, as he grabbed the creature's face, staring at it with a look that could kill. "Cat got your tongue all of a sudden? A red cardinal that was with me! Where! Is he?!" And it only got worse when he didn't get a quick answer.

"Okay, okay! He's with Eda! She's fixing up his wing or something! Geez!" It blurted out, its tone a mixture of scared and annoyed.

"Eda...?!" The moment he heard that name, all the rage on his face melted into shock and he fell back on the couch.

Eda... As in Eda the Owl Lady...?!

Did that mean that he was...?!

Oh, no... No. No, no, no! A thousand times no!

Hunter's eyes went wide, as he was once again looking around frantically, as if his mind was wandering from thought to thought.

Of all the places he could wake up to, why did it have to be the Owl House?!

How did he get there?!

Why was he even there?!

And why did the room suddenly start feeling small?

"Hey... Are you-?"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Hunter screamed, pushing it away again and stood up, ready to run. Only to (of course...) fall to the floor a second later. He tried again a couple times more, his breathing turning more erratic and frustrated with every failed attempt.

"Hooty? What's going on in there?"

A voice was suddenly heard, heading this way from the hallway. A pretty concerned and pretty familiar voice. And soon the door opened to reveal the human girl, with the welcome sight of a red cardinal on her shoulder.

"Hunter? Are you okay? Did Hooty do something?" The human's voice was soft, as she slowly kneeled in fron of him. Almost as if she was worried she'd scare him off (which she probably would've, weren't for the cardinal's presence.).

Hunter didn't say a word. He just stared between her and his palisman, his expression worn, but unreadable. He noticed the bird's right wing. It was wrapped up with a small bandage of its own.

So it was real...?

The Owl Lady really treated his palisman?

Did that mean... she treated him too?

But... he was the enemy. He was... was...

"Hunter? Hunter!" Luz called out, as Hunter fainted. "Edaaa!"

The last time there was that scent in the kitchen, Eda's hair was still red.

But now it seemed as good a time as ever for the famous veggie broth of mama Clawthorne. The rain was falling out, everyone was gathered together. And they could certainly use something to take their minds off the elephant in the room. The second spare room to be exact...

"So... how is he now?" Amity asked, lifting her head from the book she was reading to face a really thoughtful, worried Luz.

"...He should be a little better. He was probably still dizzy from the concussion. We put him back to the couch and put an ice compress on his forehead. And we asked Hooty to go. It's better if we leave him alone for some time." She replied, her voice forlorn.

"I see. But... what are we going to do with him?"

"I don't know. But based on Lil' Rascal's reaction when we mentioned the emperor's coven, I'm not sure we can just take him back there."

"So what? Are we really gonna let the emperor's new lapdog move in here?" King suddenly joined the conversation, from his spot on Luz's lap.

"King..." Luz was clearly unsure about this. Amity could hear the struggle in her voice.

"Eda? What do you think?" She asked the older witch, who this whole time didn't say a word, her attention at the broth.

For a while there was silence, as they all waited for her answer. While she turned around, and started serving them.

"I think we should eat. And then go have a little chat with our guest." And that was her answer.

Hunter wasn't really thinking of anything for a good while now. He was just lying on the couch, listening to the rain falling, while petting his palisman, who had fallen asleep. And as tense as he had been, now he was almost staring to feel at peace.

So, of course it had to be ruined.

After a couple of knocks, the door opened and in walked the human with a bowl in her hands, the Owl Lady, her pet and... the youngest Blight?

He remembered he had heard about it from some scouts a while ago. How Mrs. Blight was losing it after her daughter ran away. So this was where she had been?

"Hey... Are you feeling any better?" The human asked, with a small smile.

Hunter didn't give any response. He simply looked away.

"...Right. We thought you might be hungry, so, we brought you some broth." This time she came closer, reaching out to hand him the bowl.

Again no response (though the broth did smell pretty nice.).

His eyes drifted first to the bowl and then to her, as he slowly moved his palisman, (careful not to wake him) sat up and took it from her.

"Now can you leave?" He sounded hollow as he spoke and again avoided looking at anyone.

"Not yet." Now the Owl Lady spoke. "First, you're gonna tell us what happened."

Me: I will update soon!

My stupid perfectionist brain: I'm about to end this girl's whole career.

I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to updat soon, but... I couldn't with this chapter. I do hope it was wort the wait though. Because the next chapter will be pretty late too, since it will be very big in many ways and I want it to be just right. Either way, I leave you for now and I'll see you later! When all the sad boys and girls get a much needed (and pretty angsty) therapy session. Please leave a review and stay safe. :)