A big thank for EyeCandyman who helped me write this chapter. it's thanks to him that I published it so soon
also
"normal speech"
"normal thoughs"
Chapter 4 : a night of rest
After the human kids were given time to relax after their emotional breakdown, The witch had decided it was finally time to walk back to the Owl House. She thought about using her staff to fly everyone over to save time. But she didn't want to overwhelm her kids more than they've already been, especially Guts. By the time they made it back, nightfall had fallen, and Eda still didn't have dinner ready. She doubted that anything in the human world was open now. She'll just have to cook something tonight.
When they arrived Guts saw the big house but what really surprised him was what was on the door. streeeeetch "Hey you guys! Glad you're all back, it's been so lonely here with no one around, all the bug friends I made are now gone since I ate them all-I haven't had anyone to talk to. Oh wow! Who's the new friend! He's a human too! This is incredible! We can talk for hours, and hours, and hours, and hours…"
"…"
Guts had seen a demon with puppets, basilisks, cats that walk on two legs, and witches. But this big bird was probably the most creepiest thing he has seen in this world, not because he was threatening, but because he was just really really weird (and more annoying than that big nose prison mate from the Conformatorium) Guts and everyone else just entered the room without paying attention to the bird.
The house was nothing like the houses from his homeland, all the buildings he saw in this new world were bigger and sturdier than anything he saw in Midland. He didn't know if it was magic, clever construction, or both. But he was impressed, especially when the entire living room lit up on its own: the candles, fireplace, even the ceiling glowed up.
"Pretty neat huh?" Luz walked up beside him smiling at the amazed look on his face. He only nodded as he kept looking at the mesmerizing sights around the room: the broom and the cauldron were moving by itself, strange items and artifacts on the walls the were either from the demon world or the current human world (he can't tell the difference), and a wall that was… breathing?
He noticed there was a big strange looking painting of Eda and King. He can't read so he doesn't know what it says at the bottom, but if he had to guess based on what he recently learned about Eda, then that must've been their wanted poster
"Sorry about Hooty, he doesn't get the value of personal space. Anyways, welcome to the Owl House, make yourself at home." Eda Put her staff on a wall before going behind the room divider to change her clothes in a flash, literally. Now she wears an oversized shirt, navy blues sweatpants, and a pair of shoes that were made from dead rabbits.
Yeah, the anomalies are everywhere but he was just too tired to be surprised by them anymore; Guts just sat on the other sofa and sighed. He still kept his broken sword near him though.
"Hold on there, young man. I know you're burned out but we got to get you cleaned up first" the witch said, but Guts just shook his head, as he was a man of few words. Eda gave him a stern look, crossing her arms, "Kid, it hasn't been five minutes since you got here and you already made a dirt-bloody mess." The merc barely sat on the couch and yet you could already see a big stain on it now, along with a footprint trail on the floor. "Unless you're gonna to clean every trail you make, I suggest you hit the showers, plus it'll give you a chance to clean your wounds so they won't get infected."
"She's right Guts, cause no offense, but I've been around garbage and junk from Eda's dumpster scavenging that smelled better than you" Luz was trying to blow the stench away with her hand while King was covering his entire nose; having a strong sense of smell was both a blessing and a curse.
"Well I did spend two months in a cell with cold water being thrown on me to clean myself" He thought bitterly, but he knew he was outnumbered, so he reluctantly gave in, "sigh" "Fine, whatever"
"Good, Luz go through my closets and chests to see if you can find anything he can wear. King, you two go to the bathroom and teach him to use the showers, I have a feeling he's gonna need the tutoring lesson" The witch then threw herself on the couch, detaching her feet to the floor
"And why do me and Luz get to do chores while you play 'Slitherbeast hibernation'?" King glared at Eda before she glared back and replied "Because I got a long night ahead of me, alright. I'm going out to the night market tonight to make up for the missed sales today" She quickly glanced at Luz who rubbed her head nervously at that, "Plus, I still gotta make dinner for you all, and that by itself is a huge hassle. So quit whining unless you want to start paying rent"
King grumbled to himself about 'no respect for the king of demons' before he pulled on Guts rags (or what's left of them) and led him to the hallway, "Ffiiiiinne, come along minion. No commander of mine will lead my armies smelling like an old corpse!"
Guts hummed but said nothing else as he followed King upstairs to whatever this 'bathroom' was. As they were walking, he just looked around the house and found more strange objects and paintings there, he only recognized a battle axe, a dagger and a sword, it was smaller than his Zweihander though.
"The shower is in here, come on. I'll give you the rundown on how to use everything here" King opened the door, revealing new contraptions to Guts he's never seen before. King grabbed a stool and dragged it over to the two sinks before climbing on top, "These things right here are called a 'sink' we use these to wash our hands, face, or brush our teeth, kind of like a mini shower; the left handle is for cold water, and the right is for hot water. Just twist the handles to turn them on, and twist them back to turn them off"
He jumped down the stool (making a weird 'weh' sound) to continue his lesson, bringing his focus on the toilet. "And this is the 'toilet,' what we use for when 'duty calls'"
"Or when Eda's been drinking too much Apple Blood."
Guts knew the expression and nodded his head telling king that he perfectly understood his explanation, "Just make sure you pull the handle on the side and bring the seat down when you're done, or else Eda will have a fit"
"Ok?" "Why is that such a big deal?"
King went back to grab the stool again, dragging it over to present the last main attraction of the room "And last but not least, the shower! Also known as the bathtub" King pulled the shower curtains back to reveal a strange machine, a giant bowl on the ground and some metal snake: one high on the wall, and another on the waist level in between two round handles, with a small round pin sticking out of its head. "It works kind of like the sink; left is cold, right is hot. If you want a shower instead of a bath, just pull the pin up on the bottom snake-pipe"
"Weh!" King once again jumped down to the cabinets near the shower, bringing out two small containers, "Eda stole these human hygiene stuff for Luz, these are what she uses in the shower." Guts grabbed the items in confusion, due to his illiteracy, he didn't know that one was 'hair shampoo' and the other was 'body soap.'
"… I don't know what they are for." Guts bluntly answer him.
"Me neither..."
"….."
"….."
"…I'll ask Luz." The dog went off to find the other human only to find her already at the door, holding a few pieces of clothing in her arms, "Hi King, hey Guts! I found some clothes from Eda's human world stash, but I'm not really sure if they will fit you, sorry" The girl placed them on the tank cover of the toilet "Do you need anything else?"
"uh yeah, what are these?"
"Oh! That's what you use to clean yourself with in the shower"
"But how? Do I drink it?"
Giggles, "No silly, you rub yourself with it, the bigger one is what you use for your body, and the smaller one you scrub your hair with… also make sure you close your eyes while you're doing it because it will sting REALLY BAD if you don't"
"Um… thanks" "This is a lot of stuff to take in" Hopefully Guts wouldn't forget what he learned, or this was going to be a long night.
The girl smiled, "You're welcome; there's also towels beneath the sink, when you're done. By the way, Eda's making dinner now, but if I were you, I wouldn't leave my expectations high…" Luz left the room, her face slightly green, as she mentally prepared herself for what's to come.
"What did she mean by that?"
"Eda is known for many things here in the Boiling Isles, but master chef ain't one of them" King said no more as he left Guts still confused, closing the door behind him
Sigh… "Let's get this over with" Thanks to them, Guts was able to properly handle the new technology. He set it on shower mode, turning the handles to set the temperature just right (only burning himself once). Once that was done he threw away what was left of his prison rags out the window, and got started.
Following Luz's instructions, he washed his hair without burning his eyes, then went to clean the dirt and blood off his body, but the body soap did burn his wounds.
Once he was done he turned off the shower and stepped out to grab a towel. After drying himself, he put on the clothes he was given, then turned himself to the mirror to see how it looked, the prison rags he was given had been replaced by a black short sleeve t-shirt that failed to hide his muscles, along with navy blue cargo pants. His footwear was also what Luz called 'trainers'
He actually liked it. He wasn't one to care about his appearance, but his outfit not only looked nice but was also comfortable. It gave him a 'tough guy' kind of vibe. However, it wouldn't give him much protection in a fight, so he made a mental note to look for a new set of armor later on.
Well, now that he was done here he finally went back downstairs. His stomach growled loudly, "Damn, I'm really hungry." The last time he had a real meal was before he ended up in this strange world almost three months ago. He didn't care about how Eda's cooking tasted, he just wanted an actual meal again
Back in the kitchen, Eda was making her last serving for their new roommate. Meanwhile, the other kids were sitting around the table, Luz not really looking forward to eat. She didn't know if it was Eda's cooking itself or if it was just because witches' food weren't meant for human taste buds, but at least she never got food poisoning from it.
She noticed Guts coming from the bathroom in his new outfit, slightly blushing at the way his shirt hugged his torso. Eda saw him come in too, "Hey kid, you're just in time, dinners almost ready, hope you like griffin's bowels stew"
"Anything's fine ." He shrugged as he sat at the table. "Probably better than what I ate in jail"
"Oh yeah, before I forget, drink this" Eda threw something at him, after catching it he saw that it was a small glass container with some weird blue drink inside.
"What is this?"
"It's a healing potion, it's so your wounds can heal up a little faster. Fair warning though, I'm great with potions, but healing magic isn't my strongest suit. So don't be surprised if there are 'side effects'… eh but I'm sure you'll be fine"
"…Thanks?" Against his better judgment, Guts popped open the cork and gulped the whole thing down, cough! cough! cough!
Now he was starting to get what Luz and King meant earlier, but at least his wounds were mostly healed now, "Yeah, the bitter taste can take time getting used to, but hey! Feel better now, right?"
"…yeah, I think so" His bones and muscles didn't feel so sore now, and any scratches and bites that were left are now gone, "But now it feels like I'm getting a headache" he rubbed his head, feeling a bit of pain.
"Huh, that must be one of the side effects. I guess I'll have to work on my healing magic. But for now, let's eat!" The witch placed the last bowl down on the table before sitting down
"Thanks Eda" Luz was still grateful for Eda. Despite her opinion of the food, the human knew she tried her best. So she had to try HER best to swallow her food and not throw up
King, while not a fan of the taste either, was having an easier time since he lived with Eda the longest. So this was nothing new to him "I think she improved a little this time"
But Guts? He wolfed down everything in his bowl and as soon as he was over. "Second service please?"
Luz looked at him in disbelief. "OH MY GOD! JUST HOW BADLY WAS HE STARVING" She knew
"I haven't had a decent meal in months." he answered her. If he was being honest the taste wasn't that bad, he had eaten meals from taverns, soldier camps, even hunted animals that tasted worse than this.
He didn't know what Luz was talking about, this was great! Sure the potion sucked, but that's just medicine for ya.
Eda shrugged but smiled. "At least he is taking it pretty well here"
If she's being honest, she has no idea what she is going to do about the boy. He wasn't like Luz in any way, no home or family to send back to or any dreams or goals for him to chase, or at least not any that she knows of, he doesn't talk much about himself. He was a more complicated child, and so she had to be more careful with him.
She remembered how he reacted when a simple touch on the shoulders caused him to lash out in fear and anger. She's no therapist, but that definitely wasn't normal behavior for a child
And she didn't consider herself the perfect parental figure either, but everytime she looks at those two human kids, she just sees herself: both the good and the bad. The witch knew that keeping them around the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles wasn't a good idea, but she didn't have the heart to turn them away…
…Sighs, "I just hope I can do this… do I even have what it takes?"
The rest of the meal was eaten in comfortable silence. Once they were done, Eda used magic to quickly clean the dishes and sent the kids off to bed. "Sorry about the junk mess but I never expected to have two more kids in this house. So until I clear up some space and find some beds, you'll just have to make do with this like Luz"
The witch then put her hands on her hips and smirked, "Of course, you two can just cuddle up together on the sleeping bag, keep each other warm and comfortable tonight"
"EDA!" Luz yelled, her face bright red in embarrassment. Eda and King laughed at her reaction, while Guts just gave an unamused expression "… thanks but I'm good, I'll just sleep on the floor." "Not like I'm used to sleeping on a bed anyways"
"Alright now get some sleep you three" Luz and King went to lay down on their sleeping bag while Guts just sat in the corner with his broken sword. "Good night Eda" Luz said as the witch smiled and closed the door.
King was the first one to sleep, but Luz saw Guts sitting in the corner squeezed in between Eda's junk. Feeling bad for being the only one comfortable, she told Guts "Hey Guts, we can trade places if you want, it's probably been a long time since you've slept in a bed"
"No thanks I'm good"
"….. You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm used to sleeping like this." He bluntly answered her, still clinging on his sword as if his life depended on it. "Sleeping on a bed… makes me feel too vulnerable…"
Luz saw how he gripped his sword, her face turned into a sad frown as she thought "Were things really really that bad for you, that you don't even feel comfortable sleeping on a bed?" Nevertheless, she didn't press on as she just replied, "…ok." They didn't say anything else after that.
After witnessing his outburst earlier today, she didn't want to force him to do anything he wasn't comfortable with, but that didn't get rid of the pain in her chest at the thought of not being able to help him, she hoped that one day she would get him to open up to her, or to someone at least. It was the last thing she thought of before drifting off to sleep…
-0-
Late at night in the Emperor's castle, Belos sighed beneath his golden mask. The human had been found months ago, his scouts had searched every nook and cranny of the forest, every grain of sand in the area where he was found, but nothing. Not the slightest clue as to how the boy came to be in the isles.
As if that wasn't enough, he's escaped from the Conformatorium, severely wounding Warden Wrath along the way. He remembered what the Healing Coven told him when he awoke from his hospital bed, how he was thrashing around, injuring any nearby witches that were trying to restrain him, screaming about that human who mutilated him and how he would take his revenge, gutting him like the animal he is.
Below chuckled darkly at the irony since (in his perspective) everyone in the Boiling Isles including the warden were no better, and deserved to be gutted just as much as 'that animal' did. However, his hatred could prove to be useful in the future. Sometimes revenge is the best motivation.
One big problem that he was having was Hunter. Since that day, the grim-walker was traumatized by what the human has done in front of him. Now he hasn't been able to even hold his staff without having a panic attack, leaving him no choice but to put him on leave. If it wasn't for Lilith, he would've already tried to make a replacement already. Despite his grudges on witches, he had to admit her influence on Hunter was helping him to recover. But now he is only able to do missions as long as she's with him. "If I don't do something about this soon, their bond might become a problem one day"
After all, there was a reason why Belos doesn't allow Hunter to socialize much. Out of all of the clones Hunter was the only one who resembled 'him' the most, both physically and personality wise.
Ring Ring Ring Ring
His crystal ball rang, Belos activated it and saw Flora D'splora, a member of his coven to whom he had entrusted a futile task to. She had dark circles under her eyes and seemed like she was possessed. "Good evening my emperor... I've made an amazing discovery. You absolutely must see it." "For someone who looked utterly exhausted, she sounds very excited." He thought
He hung up, not bothering to reply, with nothing else more important to do, Belos quickly teleported to Flora's office.
"Gah! Oh my lord, you startled me…" she took a deep breath before calming herself. "You have to look at this." she pointed to… a yellow scarf?
The historian could sense his lack of interest in the garment and she hastened to explain her discovery. "I analyzed his clothes as you asked and yes, while they looked ordinary, the bloodstains on his scarf..."
Indeed; the scout had beaten up the human to subdue him, his face was covered in blood and so were his clothes. He was dressed in rags before being sent to the Conformatorium
"At first I thought it was only human blood, so it took me months to discover it, but a comparison with all the blood samples available in the archives showed there was too much mixed blood, but I found microscopic traces in the rest of his clothes..."
Belos slammed his staff on the ground, which cut Flora off at the start of her tirade.
"Just tell me what you found."
Flora giggled before replying "Titan's blood, my lord, I found a very small trace of Titan blood."
Belos almost dropped his staff.
-0-
"These last few weeks have been rather strange" Hunter thought as he was in the middle of his training. Lilith was usually cold and distant with everyone but ever since their first spar two weeks after the humans capture, he saw a completely different side of her. She took time to see if he was eating right, sleeping right, and even took time to teach him new spells, "okay yeah she's just teaching me the same thing as her other student but at least it's something, right?"
"My my, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought someone was trying to storm the castle with all this ruckus" Lilith joked as she walked in the room
"Hey Lilith" Hunter turned to greet her. However he stopped what he was doing when he saw the eyebags under her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry. Someone just made a mess in the Conformatorium and like usually I have to clean it up." Hunter cringed under his mask, Lilith's wokcharge increased since he decided to take a sick leave, but how can he work when just holding his staff brings him back memories of that devil!
"Although, shouldn't you be in bed? What in titan's name are you doing training this late?"
"I want to get back into shape after slacking off for so long, I can tell my unc-the emperor is getting annoyed for my lack of progress…" The boy looked down with a somber expression, "… I just don't wanna disappoint him anymore"
VVVVRRRRRR
Their conversation was interrupted by Kikimora in her automatic wheelchair; the human kicked her so hard during the basilisks' escape that her spine was damaged, even with magic it would take her months to fully recover. And of course it means that all her physical tasks have been transferred to Lilith and the little gremlins saw this as taking the attention of the emperor away from her.
She glared at Lilith and Hunter when she passed in front of them, before disappearing from their sights.
"How can someone so small have so much hatred inside them?" Hunted joked.
Lilith chuckled a little "Sometimes I wish I could trade my place with hers, just being behind a desk and doing paperwork.
"Really?"
"Well, there is a convention to prepare, and I'm supposed to be the mystery guest. Plus I have to give a tour of the covens for the younger children of hexside."
"And that is a REAL pain in the ass, sometimes I can't stand little kids…"
Hunter winced "Yeah, it's a chore"
"Maybe I can do it for you?" Hunter suggested, He saw how tired she looked and thought she needed the break. He wouldn't have cared about her before but after what she did for him he felt bad for her.
He remembered how Lilith went to his room when he came back from 'THAT' mission. How concerned she was at his traumatized face. She informed him she would be the one who would inform the families of the scouts killed by that devil, at first he wanted to decline and be the one to tell them himself, but he knew he wasn't 'well' at the time, so he reluctantly accepted it.
"Really?"
"Well it's just a show. 'Here come the emperor's wonder boy: The golden guard! Look at what you can become kids'!" Hunter parodied a ringmaster.
Lilith sighed in relief "Thank you. that would help me a lot." she smiled at him…it's been a long time since she smiled like that.
"I'll have to inform Amity and Bump about the change of plans"
-0-
After sending the kids off to bed, Eda left the house to sell some potions in the night market, the kind of harmless potions that 'makes you happy,' Luz wanted to try these 'happy potions' but to her displeasure, was NOT allowed to drink any. It wasn't really illegal, but it wasn't something that a child should ever drink until they're older
But on her way to the market, she stopped dead in her tracks, looking at a wanted poster she had never seen before. The image was in the same art style as hers, it depicted a man with beastly traits like: claws, sharp teeth, wild kept hair, and a sharp eye with a slit pupil. It also had a large sword in its hand, and Eda had a bad feeling on who this was
"Wanted Alive : The Swordsman of savagery"
Citizens of the Boiling Isles, be warned. This human is a danger for everyone in the Isles, he is wanted by the emperor for the charges of: theft, assault, and the murder of multiple demons, including 15 members of the Emperor's Coven
The human is a violent criminal and an excellent swordsman, while unable to use magic he is still considered to be very dangerous and must be taken with extreme caution. If you have any information regarding this escaped convict, please report it to the authorities immediately!
"Damn it, this is exactly what I was worried about" Thankfully, the poster was cryptic enough for Guts' identity to remain safe. But they still needed to be careful, especially if the emperor finds out the kid is staying with her. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel proud of him. Barely three months in and he's already making a name for himself, her baby boy's first wanted poster-
"Woah… baby boy? Where did that come from?"
Soon she looked down and realized what the price on his head was, "His bounty is as high as mine!" "What the hell does Belos want with him?"
-0-
Like on Earth, there are places where the undesirables and vagabonds gather in the isles. Right now one of those places was in a sordid bar, a group of violent thugs were gathering around a table where a giant demon called them.
His name was Boris-Bowen Grimm Hammer, also known as Boar, like his name suggests he is a 3 meters tall boar man, with greenish-gray skin, a large black snout, a pointed mouth with two large tusk, and pupilless dark blue eyes. He also had thick fur that went from the top of his head to his lower back, his shoulders, and his whole arms; all of it was dyed red to symbolize the blood of his dead victims (but it was mostly covered up by the brown robes he and his gang were wearing).
While he was presenting to them the bounty poster, everyone thought they were here to collect the huge reward for the human boy, but he was not interested in the reward.
No… he desired revenge.
"The bounty says only alive. But it never said anything about bringing him in one piece. We catch him, crush his limbs, make him suffer, and then bring him to the emperor." Even though he wasn't in this for the money, he knew he still had a crew that wanted to get paid. It was one of the reasons why he didn't plan on killing the boy right away. So he'll give them their dues… as long as they stay in line.
"I don't know, that guy killed 15 scouts from the emperor's coven, with just a sword." A green demon argued
"I heard that he beated Warden Wrath!" Spoke a woman demon
"We could just… keep hunting monsters, sure we won't get paid as much but at least it'll be easy, we've done it a million times!" A cyclops pointed out
Boar violently slammed his fist on the table "IT'S MORE THAN THAT, YOU IMBECILES! THIS SICK BASTARD KILLED MY BROTHER, THEN ATE HIS FUCKING CORPSE!"
"I thought you didn't like Tibbles." The Cyclops pointed out
Boar turned towards him; his imposing build trapping him in his shadow
"It's true, Tibbles was a disgrace to our whole family and I didn't care much for him, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let that human monster get away with that, he made a fool out of our family name, AND I WILL NEVER FORGIVE ANYONE WHO TAINTS THE 'GRIMM HAMMER'S NAME!."
Boar grabbed the Cyclops' head and smashed it against the table, splattering bits of wood and blood. "YEEEOOOOOWWWW!"
"And that is why the human will pay for it,… with his own blood""
