The Palismen
As soon as Luz came downstairs, she saw all of her friends gathered by her mom's laptop. Gus saw her.
"Hey, Luz!" He greeted her. Her other friends looked her way too. "Camila let us borrow her laptop. We have been researching some interesting stuff, like the capital of The Dominican Republic is Santo Domingo. And San Juan is Puerto Rico's capital."
"I also taught them about Connecticut." Vee added. "Like it is AKA The Constitution State, Nutmeg State, and the place where the lollipop was invented."
"And Luz is light in Spanish." Amity pointed out as Luz came over to them. "If that's the case, then Luz, you are the Luz of my life!"
"Awww!" Luz marveled. "Sweet potato, that's so sweet."
"And Belos is beautiful in Latin apparently." Willow admitted. "And I guess that's ironic since Belos is definitely not belos, if you get my drift."
"We were shooked at that realization!" Hunter said. "Absolutely shook, dowg! I can't even!" Luz was confused. "I have been learning slang; you know, how to talk like a cool, hip teenager. I am just so salty right now! My homies understand me, right, my peeps?"
"Hunter," Luz started. "We all like you, but, no offense, but, don't talk like that ever again. I'm saying it for your own good. Please, talk normally. No teenager I know talks like that." Hunter sighed.
"Sorry. You're right. It sounded better in my head. I guess that was extra. That was a super major cringe. It was super cheugy. Sorry for the flex I just did. I mean, sorry."
"So, what are we doing today, Luz?" Amity wanted to know.
"Well, before school starts," Luz began. "I want to start a personal project on my laptop." Amity was puzzled.
"What personal project?"
"You'll see, batata, I want it to be a surprise." Amity was excited about this.
"Okay!"
"And what are we supposed to do?" Gus questioned.
"You can continue learning everything about the Human Realm on Mom's laptop." Luz told him,
"Ok, cool! I wanted to do that anyway!" Flapjack chirped at Hunter. Hunter smiled.
"That's a great idea, Flap." He told the bird.
"What did he say?" Willow asked. Hunter looked at her.
"Oh, when we were back home, Flapjack liked to race outside with other birds. So, he's going to go outside to ask the wild birds around here if they want to race him." Willow smiled.
"That's a great idea! Getting fresh air is good for him. It's good for everyone."
"Well, why don't we all go outside for a little walk?" Luz suggested. "And then I can get started on my project and you guys can learn about the Human Realm?"
"That's a great idea!" Gus agreed.
"Great!" Luz said. "I'll go get my egg." She headed back upstairs to her room.
"Uh, why is she getting her egg?" Vee wanted to know. .
"She just wants to make sure it's safe." Amity told her. "She will turn out to be an awesome mom when the time comes."
"Okay."
"I know bringing my egg along on our walk is a little weird." Luz said as they all began walking outside with the Palismen, her Palisman egg in her bag. Clover and Flapjack flew above them.
"Don't worry, Luz." Amity assured her. "I already told them and they were all cool with it."
"Yeah, so cool." Vee just said.
"Okay, cool." Luz just said. "I don't have to explain anything then."
I can't believe I just got fired from my job. Jacob thought to himself, driving home. I mean how inconsiderate of them to fire me like that, especially when I just started for the day? Why couldn't they have just called me to say that I was fired at home instead of telling me there, forcing me to drive all of the way home again? They don't know where I live. My house could be 45 minutes away for all they know. Stupid, I tell you; just plain stupid! He stopped at a stoplight. As he was waiting for the light to change, he saw Luz and her friends walking in front of his car, but that's not why he was intrigued. What caught his interest was Luz's egg in her fanny pack. Hmmm, that's a strange looking egg. I never saw one like that before.
He then had an idea. Hey, I know! I could take that egg under my care. An egg like that can be a creature that hasn't been discovered yet. And if that's the case, the Historical Society will regret firing me and I'll be famous all throughout Gravesfield, maybe throughout all of Connecticut! It's foolproof! He then saw Vee. Hmmmm, that teenager looks oddly familiar somehow. He shook back into reality. Focus, Jacob! It's the egg that you want, not the strange looking girl! When the light turned green, he turned his car around to follow the kids. He heard angry car honks from outside, but he didn't care. He was on a mission!
Jacob followed the kids to a nearby park. He parked his car in the parking lot and got out of the car. He then hid in nearby bushes to spy on the children who were all sitting on the grass, watching their Palismen at play. Luz's fanny pack was beside her. Hunter and Gus were both watching clouds.
"You're right, Luz." Amity said to her. "Today turned out to be a beautiful day. Thanks for bringing us here."
"Well, enjoy the weather while you can." Luz responded. "Because when Fall comes around, it'll start getting chilly out."
"Hopefully we'll all be home by then and deal with whatever The Collector did to the Boiling Isles."
"Yeah, hopefully!'
"Looks like Flapjack found a bird to race." Willow observed as she saw Flapjack was racing a robin. Hunter looked at the two birds and the other palismen, who were cheering on Flapjack.
"Yeah." Hunter agreed with a smile. "Looks like it. Flapjack makes friends real easily."
"And he was there when you met all of us." Gus stated. "That little bird is like a friend magnet!" Hunter, once again, happily agreed. Gus pointed out a cloud that resembled a cow. "Hey, look! Those things are called cows, dairy cows to be exact. They produce milk from their udders, so they're good to have around." Hunter pointed at one that looked like a duck.
"That's a funny looking bird. Never saw that one before."
"That's a duck. They make a quacking sound." He pointed at one that resembled Hunter's Golden Guard mask. "Look! That looks like your Golden Guard mask, Hunter." Hunter frowned.
"Yeah, it sure does." Gus frowned, regretting what he just said. He looked at him.
"Hey, I'm sorry if I made you remember a bad past memory. I didn't mean to…"
"No, it's fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure." Gus was unsure about this by Hunter's tone, but continued looking at clouds with him.
Come on, kids! Jacob thought in his head. Leave! Leave the egg so that I can take it! Just then, the ice cream truck sounded. Amity flinched.
"What's that sound?" She wanted to know.
"Only the greatest sound in a kid's life!" Luz told her. Amity just looked at her.
"A clown's mass murder? Two clowns fighting each other?" Luz looked surprised.
"No! What is wrong with childhoods in the Boiling Isles?" Amity shrugged.
"Don't know. Everything, I guess. If you really think about it, childhoods can really be messed up."
"Childhoods here can be pretty messed up too." Gus and Hunter ran up to them.
"Hey!" Gus said. "We heard a cheery sounding siren. Is a clown being murdered?"
"Everything's fine." Amity informed the boys. "Well, I assume everything is fine. Luz didn't tell me what that sound was." She looked at Luz. "Luz?"
"It's an ice cream truck, meaning that ice cream is here!" Her friends were still confused.
"Is that some type of human cream that is frozen?" Willow asked. "And is a truck like a…whatever trucks are?"
"No." Luz said to her. "Honestly, I can't believe you guys have never heard of ice cream before. Hunter, I get, but all of you? Come, I'll show you." The kids followed her. Luz had taken her bag with her which frustrated Jacob. Jacob cursed. A boy and his mother were passing by.
"Mommy!" The boy complained. "That bush just said a bad word."
"Yes, it did, Jeremiah." The mom said to him. "And I'm sorry you had to hear that from the strange talking bush. I'm also sorry that you lost one of your chalk, but, ice cream!" Jeremiah's face brightened.
"Yay; ice cream!" The boy and mom went off.
Stupid kid! Jacob thought again to himself. Why can't she be stupid and leave the egg behind? He settled down. Calm down, Jacob. The girl can still do something stupid. Don't give up hope yet. He went out of the bushes and went towards the ice cream siren sound.
Luz and her friends all sat at a nearby picnic table so that they could have their ice creams. Luz set her bag beside her. Jacob saw this and cheered to himself. He saw some white chalk and a rock nearby. He had an idea. He picked up the rock and the chalk, looked at the palismen egg, and drew the same design the best that he could. To whoever dropped their chalk on the ground, thank you! He placed the chalk back onto the ground when done. Some of Hunter's ice cream fell to the ground. Luz pointed this out to him.
"No, it's okay." He assured her. "This way, Flapjack can enjoy my ice cream too." Flapjack flew up to the ice cream and began eating it. "Eat up, bud; It's delicious!" The robin came too, as well as a blue jay. "And apparently, Flap's new found friends too." More birds flew in and began eating the ice cream. "Wow; Flapjack sure has a lot of friends!" He smiled. "I'm so proud of him!" Even more birds flew in.
"Wow!" Willow observed, "Hunter, the birds won't stop coming! Are you sure this is a good idea? It may be getting out of hand."
"You may be right about that, Captain. I'll tell Flapjack to…" Just then, Hunter's whole ice cream fell to the ground. He frowned. "And now, there goes my ice cream."
"At least you still have your cone." Luz observed, looking at his cone. "That's edible." A bird then knocked Hunter's cone to the ground too. Luz frowned. "And now you can't." Luz bumped her bag with her elbow, knocking it to the ground. The egg fell out, rolling onto the grass. This excited Jacob once again. He quickly made his move and picked up the egg from the bag. He placed the rock in its place. He then left. Gus was about to say something when he was interrupted by Flapjack's chirp.
"What is it, Flap?" Hunter wanted to know. Flapjack looked at him and chirped. Hunter looked at Luz. "Flap says he saw a guy come and take off with your egg, Luz."
"What!?" Luz questioned. "I'll check my bag." She looked in the bag, and saw the rock, However, she mistook this to be her egg. "No, my egg's in here."
"Oh, well, that's good." He looked at the bird. "You hear that, Flap? Luz has her egg. Maybe the guy was doing something else?" The bird was about to chirp again when Luz spoke up.
"Well, if all of your ice creams are done, we should head on back." The kids agreed. Hunter beant down to the red bird. "You can stay here for a while, Flap. The others can too. I'll go and tell the others." He left with his friends. The other Palismen saw that Flapjack was bothered about the egg.
"Flapjack?" Clover wanted to know. "What is it?" Flapjack looked at her.
"I swear that guy I saw took the egg." He told her. "I saw it."
"Maybe like Hunter said, he was doing something else." Emmiline said. Flapjack looked at the blue chameleon.
"What would he be doing?"
"I don't know." The reptile admitted. "You saw him, not us."
"Exactly, and he looked shady to me." The bird flew towards the bushes.
"Wait, Flapjack!" Clover called to him. The bee looked at the other animals. "Come on, gang. We better see where he's going." They agreed and they all went after the cardinal.
Flapjack went to the bush, but grew disappointed when he didn't see anything. The robin and blue jay that he befriended, landed by him.
"Flapjack?" The robin questioned. "What are you doing here? Jay and I saw your human friends go off somewhere." Flapjack looked at her.
"Robin, did you or Jay see a man go off with something?" He wanted to know.
"Now that you mention it, yes, we did."
"I knew it!" The other Pailsmen then caught up with him.
"Knew what, Flapjack?" Ghost asked. Flapjack looked at the feline and grew determined.
"That man took off with Luz's egg. Come on, we got to go get it back." He flew off. "Thanks, Robin and Jay!" The Palismen ran and flew after Flapjack.
"That was an egg?" Asked a confused Jay. "What would a man want to do with an egg?"
"Don't know." Robin admitted. "But come on, they might need help." Jay agreed and flew off after her.
"Should we tell Amity and the others what we are doing?" Ghost asked Flapjack.
"No." Flapjack answered her. Ghost was confused.
"Really? Because I feel like we should."
"I feel like we should too, but at the same time, I don't want to bother them with something we might be able to handle ourselves. I feel like they have their own problems."
"Well, okay."
"Do you need our help?" Robin questioned when she and Jay flew next to him and Clover. Flapjack looked at her.
"You know what?" He responded. "That might not be such a bad idea. We could use it actually. Can you guys see if you spot him again and tell us?"
"Sure thing." Robin replied. "We'll do anything for you."
"Thanks, Robin." The two dispersed from the palismen. Flapjack looked at the others. "Come on, guys. We need to look too."
The palismen went out of the bushes and looked around. Jacob was nowhere in sight,
"He couldn't have gone too far." Flapjack told Emmiline, Clover and Ghost. "Spread out and search everywhere." The animals agreed and began searching.
Minutes later, Flapjack saw something. He looked up and saw…
"Calab?" He asked. But the statue didn't answer. He excitedly flew up and perched on the statue's shoulder. "Caleb! Oh, I'm so glad to see you. It's been so long. I never thought I would ever see you again since, well, you know." He then frowned. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Evelyn thought you were dead, so not long after, she died herself. But I have a new owner now, Hunter! Oh, you will love him! Oddly enough, he looks a lot like you." He then was sad again. "I'm sorry about not healing you. I guess I was scared. Please, forgive me. It was the biggest regret I have, and I would take it all back if I could." He changed the subject. "Oh, but, come on and meet my new owner, right after we get Luz's egg back." He realized something, "Oh, sorry. You probably have no clue at what I'm talking about. You see, Luz is…"
Plop! Something wet and white landed near him. This started him. Bird poop. He looked and saw that the poop came from a pigeon. He grew mad.
"Hey!" He snapped at the pigeon. "This is my former owner's lover here! You can't just poop on him. That's so rude and disgusting! Don't you have any respect whatsoever?!" The pigeon looked at him.
"Sorry." He responded. "But I can't help it. My poop comes when it comes. It's natural. Everyone does it, even humans. I thought you would know that fact."
"I do know that, but I don't care. You just don't poop on my previous owner's husband. Now apologize to him this instant!"
"You do know that your 'previous owner's lover' stands here all day, right? Like he never moves. I poop on him every day." Flapjack was disgusted by this.
"What?! That's…that's so disgusting and wrong. How dare you!"
"Well, I do. I don't know what to tell you. I tell you, this man never moves. It's like he's begging to get pooped on."
"What is wrong with you?! Something's totally wrong with you and I hope you get the help that you need because you totally need it. But anyways, you're talking about like he is permanently stuck to this very spot."
"That's because it's true. I admit I don't stay here all day, but he's here every day, along with somebody else that never moves." Flapjack was confused about this.
"Somebody else? What are you…" He then looked around and his eyes grew wide with fright. "Philip?!"
"Philip? Who's he? Do you know him?"
"RUN, CALEB!" Flapjack quickly flew away into the bushes. The pigeon rolled his eyes. Poor, dumb bird.
Flapjack looked out when he realized that Caleb wasn't following. He was confused. "Caleb? Why aren't you running for your life? Run! Get out of there before your murderous brother strikes again." Ghost, Emmiline and Clover then approached from behind him. "Come on, why are you just standing there with that same look on your face? Caleb?"
"Who are you talking to, Flapjack?" Clover wanted to know. Flapjack turned to his friends.
"My previous owner's husband, before I had Hunter, Caleb. But his evil brother is also here. You should get out of here guys while you still can. I'm going to stay here. I'm not going without Caleb." The pigeon landed nearby.
"Uh, Flapjack." Ghost said to him. "I don't think Caleb is real."
"I tried to tell him." The pigeon explained. Flapjack was confused.
"Real? Of course Caleb's real. What are you talking about?"
"I think Ghost is trying to say that right there is not the real Caleb." Clover informed the red bird. "For one thing, he and Philip are both gray. Look." Flapjack looked at the statue.
"You're right. Caleb does look a bit off. He doesn't have any color to him. I wonder why I never thought of that before."
"Plus, when we poop on them," The pigeon began. "They don't flinch and yell 'shoo' at us to go away. Ergo, this is not your real owner's husband."
"I guess you're right." Flapjack sighed. "I was so sure that this was Caleb and his younger evil brother. I know what statues are. I'm not a stupid idiot. I guess I just miss him. Sorry about that, guys." Clover felt bad for him, then perked up.
"Cheer up. It was just a mistake and mistakes happen."
"You're right, even by a palisman who is over 400-years-old."
"Over 400?" The pigeon wanted to know.
"Yeah." Flapjack said to him. "Do birds like me live that long?" The pigeon shook his head.
"No bird I know."
"Guess it's because you're not from my realm."
"What?"
"I think it might be best to tell him." Emmiline put in. "By the way, can you also tell us about this Caleb person, Philip and your previous owner's lover?" Flapjack sighed with a frown.
"I…I don't like talking about my past. Sorry." Emmiline was disappointed.
"Oh, come on, Flap. We want to know." She looked at the others. "Right, guys?"
"If the past is too painful for you to remember," Clover began. "We won't force you. You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to." Flapjack looked at her and smiled.
"Thanks, Clover. I really appreciate that."
"What?!" The chameleon whined. "No! I have to know. You can't keep us hanging like this. It's cruel! The suspense is killing me!"
"Emmiline!" Ghost hissed at her. "I want to know too, but we need to respect Flapjack's decision." Emmiline sighed.
"Fine!" She looked at the bird. "Sorry, Flapjack."
"That's quite all right, Emmiline." He said.
"Well, I'm going to leave." The pigeon informed them. And with that, he flew off. Emmiline looked at the statue again and studied it.
"Flapjack, Caleb looks kind of like Hunter."
"Emmiline' s right." Clover observed.
"It's almost scary that he does." Ghost put in, looking at the statue, then at Flapjack. "Is that why you chose Hunter to be your new owner, Flap? Did you mistake him for Caleb?"
"No." The cardinal answered. "I knew Hunter was his own person and not Caleb."
"Then why did you choose him?" Flapjack was about to explain when Robin called from above.
"Hey; we found that man with the egg!" All of the palismen looked as she and Jay flew and landed by them.
"What took you guys so long?" Emmiline questioned her.
"I wanted to confront you guys right away when we saw them," Jay informed her. "But Robin didn't want to lose him."
"Where did he go?" Flapjack asked.
"We'll show you." Robin replied. "Come on." The palismen followed the two birds.
Luz was in her room. She took the rock out of her bag, but then realized something was off. Hey, wait a minute! She observed the rock. She instantly realized that this was not her egg, but indeed, the rock. She cursed to herself. She was so glad that her mom didn't hear her. She ran out of the bedroom with the rock.
"Guys!" She shouted to her friends, out of breath. They all looked at her. "Sorry to interrupt, but look!" She showed them the rock. "This isn't my egg. It's a rock. It's been colored on by chalk to look like my egg to fool me. Ugh; how can I be so stupid?!"
"Cheer up, Luz." Amity consoled her. "All we need to do is go back to that park and find the egg."
"Unless it's not in the park." Luz put in. She then realized something. "Oh, Titan! Could Flapjack be right? Could that man have stolen it?"
"Let's not panic just yet. Let's just go to the park and look. Maybe that guy is still there. Who knows? We won't know for sure if we don't try." Luz smiled.
"You're right, Amity. Let's go back to the park and look." She looked at her other friends. "Sorry this cuts in you guys learning all about The Human Realm."
"Don't worry about it." Gus assured her. "We can learn all about it later. We just really wanted something to do, and this is something to do."
"Plus, finding your palismen egg is much more important." Willow added. "And it gives us more time to hang out with you before your human school starts."
"That's true." Luz agreed. "So, I guess this is a blessing in disguise sort of. But this is serious. Let's get to work." The friends all agreed and went back to the park in their disguises.
As soon as the Hexsquad were at the park, they all split up to go looking for the egg.
"I hope Flapjack is alright." Hunter said, walking with Gus. "He and the other palismen should still be here. I hope that they didn't go after that man who took Luz's egg. That could be trouble."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Gus told him. "Even if he and the others did go after that guy, Flapjack is smart, as well as the others. They can probably handle it."
"I hope you're right. Still, it is kind of worrisome."
"Maybe, but let's not think about it. Let's just look for that egg." Hunter agreed, and they resumed looking.
Flapjack, the other palismen and the two other birds were all outside of Jacob's house.
"So, this is where the egg napper's house is?" Flapjack wanted to know.
"Yup!" Robin answered. "This is where he took it. Right in there." The animals looked inside from the window. The palismen gasped. There, sitting on the desk was Luz's egg!
"Luz's egg is in there all right." Emmiline observed. "Now, how are we going to get it?" Flapjack thought about this and came up with an idea. He looked at his friends.
"'Emmiline, you come with me. You carry the egg with your sticky tongue and I'll hold onto you and the egg if need be. I'll knock on the door with my beak, he'll open the door, and the two of us will go in and get the egg."
"But what if the weight of the egg. as well as myself. will be too much for you to carry?"
"Ok then. Somebody else with wings should come with us then."
"I'll go too." Clover volunteered. "After all, if we get caught by him, I can sting him with my stinger." Flapjack smiled at the bee.
"Good idea, Clover. Okay, so you, me and Emmaline will go in."
"What about me?" Ghost wanted to know. Flapjack looked at her.
"You stay out here and wait." The white cat nodded.
"Got it!"
"Well, if you don't need us," Robin began. "Jay and I will go back to the park." Flapjack looked at her.
"Ok, Robin. You guys do that. Thanks for all of the help up to this point. We got it from here I think." They all said their goodbyes, Robin and Jay wished them luck and flew off. Flapjack looked at his friends, determined. "Okay, let's do this!" The others agreed and went to the front door. Once at the door, Flapjack knocked at the door with his beak.
Jacob looked at the egg long and hard in his house. Hmmmm, he thought to himself. What are you strange egg? What kind of creature is inside of you, waiting to be hatched at any time?
Just then, there came a knock from the door. Jacob looked at where the sound came from and walked to the door. Hmmmm, I wonder who is knocking on my door? I'm not expecting anyone. Jacob went off to answer the door.
"Hello?" He asked when he answered the door. Flapjack and others were hidden, so he wouldn't see. He went outside and looked around. "Anyone here?" Flapjack, Emmaline and Clover flew and went inside without Jacob's knowledge. They all quickly went to the room with the egg. Jacob went back in, unhappy. "Dang, kids!" He shut the door. "I hate their 'ding dong ditch' game!" He headed back into the room.
"Okay." Flapjack said to the two animals. "We don't have much time. Let's just get the egg. And get out of here before that guy comes back." The animals went to the egg. While going to the egg, Emmiline looked at the picture frames on the wall. One of the pictures had Vee in her baskelisk form.
"Hey!" The blue chameleon piped up. "It's Vee in her true form!"
"Emmiline!" Flapjack snapped at her. "Focus!" The chameleon looked at him.
"Oh, yeah, sorry!" The blue reptile looked at the egg and lashed her tongue at it. The egg stuck to it.
"Perfect!" Flapjack said. "Now, Clover, you grab Emmiline's head and I'll grab her tail."
"Got it, Flap!" Clover agreed. The two animals flew into position and grabbed the head and tail.
"Caefal!" Emmiline said.
"Emmiline, don't talk with the egg stuck in your tongue." Clover told her. "We can't understand you."
"Sara!" Just then, Jacob saw in and saw the three palismen about to take away the egg.
"Hey!" An angry Jacob yelled. "Don't steal the egg that I stole!" The animals all gasped as they saw him too.
"That's my cue!" Clover said and flew and buzz around Jacob who screamed and swatted at the bee. As a result, Flapjack struggled with the egg and the chameleon.
"Hurry!" Flapjack shouted to Clover. "I can't hold on much longer! They're really heavy!"
"I'm trying!" Clover shouted back. "But this guy is not letting me sting him!"
"You…will…not…sting me…bee!" Jacob stated, trying to swat Clover away. The bee then saw an opening, and dived in and stung his hand with her stinger. Jacob screamed, yelling every cuss word that he knew. Clover flew back to Flapjack and the two carried the chameleon. However, they didn't know a way outside.
"How do we get outside?" Clover wanted to know.
"Are you blind?" Flapjack asked. "There are lots of ways outside. Follow me!" He tried to go out a window.
"Ra ya ind?!" Emmiline wanted to know. "Tat's a nindo!"
"What?" Flapjack questioned, still going for the window.
"That's a window!" Clover translated. "And it's closed! We can't go though there!"
"What are you talking about? What window?"
"That window!" Flapjack looked at the window, then back at Clover.
"I don't see it, Clover." Clover sighed.
"Uh, gaws?" Emmiline asked, seeing Jacob coming for them. "The gaws gosings to gas us." But the two were too busy arguing to hear.
"GAWS!"
"WHAT?!" Both Flapjack and Clover shouted at the chameleon. They, too, saw Jacob heading their way.
Ghost saw this from the window and panicked. I better get help! She thought to herself. She scurried away.
Hunter went by the statues of Philip and Caleb to look. He did not look at the statues.
"Philip Witterbane." He heard someone read out loud from the plaque in front of Belos' statue. This got the grimwalker's attention. He was afraid to look behind him, but did. And when he did, and saw that it was Philip, he tumbled backwards to the ground, terrified. He began to hyperventilate. He hallucinated that Philip's statue came to life and was marching towards him, angerly.
"Stay back, Philip!" The frightened grimwalker begged, fear in his voice. "I beg of you!" Concerned people ran over to him. "Leave me alone! Oh, titan, please! Leave me, Flapjack and my friends alone!"
"How do you know my name?" Someone in the crowd asked. "And why do you want me to leave you alone? I never saw you in my life!"
"Just leave…leave me alone!" Hunter was crying now. "Don't…don't kill me, please?!"
"Kill you? Why would I kill a random stranger? That's just wrong! Murdering anyone is wrong and highly illegal! I just want to help you."
"No! Leave!"
Luz, who was nearby, saw Hunter's panic attack. Oh no! She ran to him.
"Don't crowd him!" Luz shouted to everybody. "Can't you see you all are making it worse for him that way?" She told the people that she had this under control, and so they all left.
"Hunter!" She yelled. When she was next to him, she bent down to him. "Hunter, it's me, Luz! Breathe! What is it? What's wrong?" Hunter pointed at Philip's statue.
"Unc…Phil…Belos is here." Hunter managed to say, still breathing heavily. Luz looked at him, then back at Hunter.
"Oh, Hunter, that's only his statue. He's not going to hurt you." Hunter looked at Luz, breathing in and out a couple of times. He had ceased crying. His breathing turned to normal, then saw that she was right and felt a little foolish and embarrassed. He looked back at her.
"His statue? Why does this place have a statue of him here?"
"He's part of Gravefield's history as well as his brother." She then frowned. "Sorry. I forgot his statue was here. I should have told you." Hunter then became mad at her.
"Well, he should not have a statue. He's evil." Luz became mad too.
"What are you mad at me for?! Him having a statue wasn't my idea. He's part of history. It was a bad part of history, but it was still history.
""Well, can't you tell someone to demolish it? He's giving me anxiety."
"It's more complicated than that! I have to tell the mayor and convince a whole bunch of important adults. And they will never believe me! I'm just a kid. Here, kids are meant to be seen and not heard."
"I don't know what that means, but it sounds completely ridiculous."
"I agree, but what do you want me to do about it?" Hunter was about to argue some more when Robin flew up to the two teens. They looked at the robin. The bird chirped at them, flew a little ways, looked back and chirped at them some more.
"I think it wants us to follow it." Luz said.
"You understand this bird?" Luz shook her head. "Then, how do you know?" Luz shrugged.
"I just do, now, come on!" The two teenagers ran after the bird.
They met up with Gus and Amity who were following Jay.
"Sweet Potato?" Amity asked as the two ran beside them now. "What are you doing with Hunter?"
"Following this robin." Luz replied.
"And we're following this blue jay." Gus added. "Weird. I wonder where these birds are taking us."
"Me too." Luz said. "I hope it's somewhere important and we're not wasting our time running after them." Just then, Ghost came out of the bushes. This stunned Amity.
"Ghost?" She wondered out loud. When the cat saw her owner, she ran to her. "Ghost, what are you doing here? Where are the other palismen?" Ghost meowed and meowed at her. Amity gasped.
"Flapjack, Clover and Emmiline are all in trouble?" Ghost nodded. Hunter and Gus gasped. "Lead us to them, Ghost!" Ghost ran back towards where she came from. The kids continued running. "Oh, and Luz, your egg is with them."
"My egg?" Luz questioned.
"I should have known letting Flapjack roam free in this park alone was a bad idea." Hunter said. "I'll never forgive myself now!"
"The main thing now is that we save them." Gus stated to him. "And we will. So don't feel too bad. Clover and Emmiline are with him."
"I guess."
Jacob threw all of the palismen in his closet.
"Stay in there!" He commanded. "All of you! At least until I figure out what to do with all of you!" He shut the door before any of the three animals could get out.
"Now what do we do?" Emmiline wanted to know. "We can't stay here forever."
"You're right." A determined Flapjack stated. "Our owners need us." He then began ramming himself at the door. Clover grew concerned.
"Uh, Flapjack. I don't think that's a good idea." The bumblebee said. "You could hurt yourself." Flapjack ignored her and kept ramming and ramming into the door.
"But…we…need..to…get out! Come on and…help me…guys!" Emmiline looked at Clover for confirmation. Clover nodded. They were about to help the cardinal when the bird yelled in pain. "Ow, ow, ow!" He fell to the floor. The bee and chameleon's eyes widened in fright,
"Flapjack! Are you okay?"
"I don't know." He answered. He tried to fly, but fell back to the floor right away. He tried again and again, but with the same result each time. "Bird titan! I think my wing's broken."
"Just relax, Flapjack. Rest your wings. Emmaline and I will think of something."
"Will we?" Emmiline asked her.
"Yes, Emmiline." She told her. "We will. Now, think!"
Hunter, Luz, Gus and Amity were led to Jacob's house. They looked at it. They looked at the house.
"This is where Clover, Flapjack and Emmiline are, Ghost?" Amity wanted to know. Ghost meowed.
"Hey!" Luz said, looking at her palisman egg "It's my egg!" The kids looked at it.
"So Flapjack was right!" Amity said. "That man did steal it! That man stole from my sweet potato." She grew mad. "We should make him pay! No one steals from my Luz and gets away with it!"
"Flapjack and the other palismen must have tried to take it back." Gus reasoned.
"If Flapjack and the others are here, he must be hurting them." Hunter also reasoned, He, too, grew mad. "We should knock on his door and confront him!"
"And ask him to let them all go!" Gus added.
"Whoa!" Luz said. "I know all of you guys are mad. I am too. But we need to think of a plan first. He is not going to just let us take them back."
"Then what are we going to do?" Luz grabbed her phone.
"Well, first I'm going to call Vee and tell her that we're here and found the egg. She and Willow will come, and together, we'll all come up with a plan." The kids agreed and Luz called Vee while the others waited.
After Jacob placed a chair in front of the closet door, he was about to head back to the room with the egg when he saw Gus, Hunter, Amity and Luz from the window. Luz was on her cellphone. Jacob groaned as he headed for the door.
Gus, Hunter, Ghost and Amity all looked up and saw Jacob as he opened his front door.
"Can I ask you why you kids are here?" He wanted to know, "If you don't need anything, I kindly ask you to leave." Ghost snuck into the doorway and into the house without anyone knowing.
"Yes." Gus stated to him. "As a matter of fact, we do. You have something that belongs to our friend as well as all of us."
"Oh, I do? What?"
"An egg and all of our animal friends."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
"We saw the egg from your window, dude!" Jacob muttered a swear word.
Emmiline heard muffled talking.
"Hey, guys, I hear talking from outside!" The chameleon said. "Let us all yell and maybe they'll hear us!" The animals all agreed and did their animal calls.
Hunter heard Flapjack's frantic chirps as well as the other palismen.
"Flapjack?" He asked himself.
"Yeah, I think I hear Emmiline." Gus piped up. "As well as Clover." Hunter narrowed his eyes and marched up to Jacob.
"I know you're hiding my bird, Flapjack. Let him go right now as well as the others!"
"You named your bird Flapjack?" Jacob questioned. "Why?"
"Just answer the question." Gus said to him also, looking mad. "Where are our animals at?"
"Okay, guys!" Luz said, putting her phone back into her pocket. "Vee and Willow will be here momentarily." She saw the scene unfolding. "Oh, I see you are all busy at the moment. Good to know." They then all heard meowing and scratching. They saw that it was Ghost at the closet door. She was meowing and scratching at the door. This angered Jacob.
"Hey, cat!" He shouted. "Paws off! My door is not a scratching post!"
"Are the other palismen in there, Ghost?" Amity asked her cat. The cat turned to her and nodded. Hunter raced right into the house.
"Hey!" Jacob shouted again. "Kid, you never just barge into another guys' house without permission!" Hunter ran to the door and moved the chair out of the way.
"I'll get you out of there, Flap!" Hunter yelled. "Just hang on!" Once he got the chair out of the way, he opened the door and there was Emmiline, Clover and an injured Flapjack laying on the floor. "Flapjack!" Both Emmiline and Clover raced out of the closet. Emmiline ran into Gus' arms. While all of this was happening, Luz ran into the house as well for the egg.
"Emmiline!" The tween witch said, happily. "Did that evil dude hurt you?" Amity petted her cat.
"Good girl, Ghost!" She complimented. The feline mewed. Hunter gasped as he saw Flapjack's broken wing.
"What happened to your wing, Flap?" He turned to Jacob, mad. "What did you do to his wing?!"
"What?" Jacob asked. "Look, kid, I didn't do anything to your bird's wing.
"I don't believe you."
"Look, I'm telling you, I…"
"Never mind about that, guys!" Luz said. "I got the egg. Now, let's get out of here!" Jacob was now steamed.
"What is wrong with you, kids!? He questioned. "I swear, I'm going to call the cops. Now, give me back the egg!" Luz and the others ran out of the door. Hunter had picked up Flapjack into his arms. Before Jacob could run after Luz, several birds led by Robin and Jay flew into his face. He yelled and stumbled. "What is wrong with the birds now?!"
Luz, Hunter, Amity, Clover, Ghost and Emmiline ran and ran. They then saw Vee and Willow.
"Hey, guys!" Vee called. "What did we miss?" Clover flew to Willow.
"Hey, Clover." Willow greeted the bee. "How have you been? Did you and the other palismen have fun?" She then saw Hunter, "Oh, hey, Hunter." She then saw Flapjack's wing and frowned. "Aw, poor Flapjack. Looks like his wing is broken."
"Vee," Luz said to her. "We need a ride to my mom's vet clinic so she can help Flapjack. Quick! Her shift is going to end soon." Vee nodded and took out her phone. Luz looked at Hunter.
"The driver doesn't allow animals in the car." She told him. "I'll put him in my fanny pack." Hunter nodded and gave Flapjack to Luz. The other pailsmen turned into staffs for their witches. Luz put the injured bird in her pack by her egg.
When they got to the vet's, the kids thanked the driver and ran into the building.
"We need to see my mom!" Luz said to the woman at the front desk. The woman told them to all take a seat, so they did. Other people with pets were there too.
"Don't worry, Hunter." Luz said to him when she saw that he was gloomy. "My mom will make Flapjack all better soon. You'll see. She's a vet, so she's an expert at this kind of stuff." Hunter looked at her and smiled.
"You know best, Luz." He agreed. "So you are probably right. I trust your mom will heal Flap's wing right up." He then frowned again. "Still, I feel awful about this whole ordeal, you know? It shouldn't have happened in the first place."
"I know. I feel awful that it happened too, but these things happen, but it'll be better soon. Promise. Flapjack will make a full recovery."
"I hope you're right." Hunter looked down at the injured bird on his lap, who Luz had given back to him. "I'm sorry, Flap. I shouldn't have let you roam in a place we have never been to before." Flapjack chirped, which confused him. "What? You've been here before? When?" The bird was about to answer when a familiar voice spoke up.
"Kids?" Camila asked. They all saw her in front of the open door. "What is it? What's wrong?" The kids all raced over to her.
"It's Flapjack, Mama." Luz told her. "His wing is broken." Camila looked at Flapjack in Hunter's arms and gasped. She then was firm.
"Vee," Camila said to her. "If you and the others want to go home, you can call for a ride. I'll take Hunter home with me after I look at Flapjack." She looked at Hunter. "You bring Flapjack and follow me." Hunter nodded.
"We'll see you at home, Hunter." Luz said to him.
"And don't feel bad." Willow assured the grimwalker. "Camila knows what she's doing. Flapjack is going to get better soon." Hunter smiled at her.
"I know he will, Captain." He said back. "He's strong. The scar across his eye proves that. If he survived over whoever gave him the scar, he can survive this." Willow smiled.
"Just like someone else I know. You know, you and Flapjack both have something in common. You both may have troubled pasts, but you both came out strong and they don't get you two down." Hunter blushed as she and the others left. He then went back into reality and followed Camila.
"Place Flapjack on that table there." Camila told Hunter when they were in a Treatment Room. Hunter went to the table and placed Flapjack onto it. Camila went closer to the injured bird with surgical gloves on. "Now, let's see what we can do." Hunter felt like crying, but held it in. He knew he had to stay strong for his palisman. He dreaded asking this question, but asked anyway.
"Will Flapjack ever fly again?" He wanted to know. Camila looked at him.
"Hunter, I know Flapjack is important to you, but, I'm going to be honest with you. I'll try my very best. I promise." This made Hunter feel even worse. What would happen if he couldn't rely on him to get around? He needed Flapjack. Without his magic, he was back into being a powerless witch. He supposed he could go back to his artificial staff, but that was back at the castle, and he feared that he wouldn't be welcomed back there, even if it was just for his staff. Plus, now with the Collector doing who knows what to the Boiling Isles, would the castle, Steve, and the others even still be there? Hunter didn't care if he was magic or not. He just wanted Flapjack to get better and continue to be his friend. Camila sensed Hunter's uneasiness.
"I know you're scared of what might happen." She spoke. "And that's okay, to be scared. I'm scared too, and I'm the vet. But we have to have a positive outlook on this and just don't think about the negatives, okay?" Hunter nodded in agreement.
"I'll try." He said.
"Good, now, can you tell me what happened or let Flapjack and you be the translator?" Hunter nodded again and asked Flapjack what had happened, so he could translate. Hunter was shocked that it wasn't Jacob who broke Flapjack's wing, but just Flapjack ramming himself into the closet door so hard. He felt a little guilty that he blamed Jacob for it, but still upset that he put him and the other palismen in the closet and stole Luz's egg and fooled her.
When Hunter and Camila entered the lobby again, they were surprised to see Willow waiting for them. Hunter held Flapjack in his arms again. Camila had bandaged up the bird's broken wing. Willow smiled and walked over to them.
"Captain, what are you doing here?" Hunter wanted to know. "I thought you went with Luz and the others to her house."
"I was going to, but I decided to stay here and wait for you guys instead." Willow explained.
"Aw, that's nice." Camilla observed.
"So, how's Flapjack? I see his wing is bandaged up."
"Camila said his wing will heal in 3-4 weeks." Hunter informed her.
"That's amazing!"
"I know, isn't it? Flapjack will be able to fly again and I get to use him in staff form again."
"I'm glad."
"Me too." They then went off to Camila's car.
Flapjack was alone in the basement in the Noceda's. He laid in a box to rest his wing. Emmiline, Clover and Ghost came down to keep the little bird company.
"How're you doing, Flapjack?" Clover wanted to know.
"Better thanks to this bandage." Flapjack told her. "I can't fly for a few weeks. I have to just take it easy, and rest my wing."
"That's good." He looked at Ghost. "Thanks Ghost for getting help." Ghost smiled.
"Of course!" The bird then frowned. This had Clover and the others concerned.
"What is it, Flap?" The bee questioned.
"We should have never rescued Luz's egg by ourselves. We put our lives at risk that way. My wing might not have broken and I could still be flying. Hunter is powerless on his own. I give him magic. He needs me. I feel like I'm letting him down."
"Don't say that, Flapjack! You're not letting him down. Hunter loves you. He's lucky to have you."
"Plus," Emmiline added. "Our owners might not be able to use a lot of magic while we're in this realm. The locals might not understand. That's why they hide their ears because while their ears are pointed, Luz, her mom and the other locals' ears are round."
"That's true." He then smiled. "And I am lucky to have Hunter too. He does look like Caleb, so much." He looked at Emmiline. "I thought I was going to be Luz's palismen. But there was something about Hunter that attracted me to him. I don't know if he reminded me of me with his scar or the fact that he let all of us palismen go free when it was him that captured us, as well as Luz. When he did that, I knew that he wasn't the bad guy and deep down, had a heart and was a nice and loving boy. But even though I can't put my wing on it, I'm so glad that I did. That poor boy needs me and I'm glad that he made friends, escaped the castle and Belos' evil influence on him, redeemed himself by switching to the good side and choosing his own path and becoming the person that he wants to be. Caleb would have been proud."
"We all love our witches so much." Clover agreed. "That we are willing to do anything for them."
"I told Hunter that I'd die for him." His friends were shocked.
"Well that escalated quickly." Emmiline stated. "It's sweet, but dark."
"It's true, though. If anything should happen to him, I'd give up my life just to let him live on. I should have done it to Caleb after Phillip killed him, and I won't make that same mistake again."
"I get the creepy feeling that's foreshadowing what to come. Please say that's not the case." Flapjack looked at Emmiline.
"Don't worry, Emmiline. I'm not planning on dying anytime soon. Although I am over 400 years old and have lived my life, I'm not going anywhere." The chameleon sighed.
"Oh good, because all of us would be sad if you did that. Hunter needs you." Flapjack smiled.
"Besides, someone has to teach Luz's palisman the ropes of being a good palisman when it hatches."
"And you would be better at it than all of us." Ghost put in. "You lived more. You've seen more. Heck, you have been to both realms for cat Titan's sake, so you know more than we do."
"That lucky palisman will have so many great teachers." Clover said. "As well as an amazing owner. Luz will be the first ever human to ever own a palisman."
"That's pretty cool if you ask me." Emmiline put in. "I'm jealous and he or she isn't even here yet." Just then they all saw Hunter and Luz both come down.
"Keeping Flap company down here, guys?" Hunter asked Ghost, Emmiline and Clover. "That's nice. I'm going to study that driving manual some more."
"And I'm here to say my thanks to all of you guys for saving my egg." Luz put in. "So, thanks. Thanks for putting all of your lives at risk for my egg." She looked at Flapjack. "Even if it was at the expense of your wing, Flapjack. Hope it heals soon. You might have wanted to go with me at first, but I'm glad you chose Hunter in the end. That bad, but sad boy, who is not such a bad, but still very sad boy really needs you. Well, thanks, again. I'm going back upstairs. Hunter smiled as he looked at his palisman.
"She's right, Flap. I am glad that you came into my life. You changed my life for the better and I'm so grateful for that, so I thank you for that." He then frowned. "Which is why I was so worried and upset when I saw that you had broken your wing. If it wasn't for Camila, I don't know what we would have done. You're important to me, buddy, so, please, be careful next time." Flapjack chirped in response. Hunter smiled again and looked at the other palismen. "You all can stay down here and chat with Flapjack if you want. I'll be right over here." And so that is what the palismen did. They all resumed chatting with Flapjack as Hunter sat down on the sofa, pamphlet in hand, and studied.