Day 6: Adult Time: Part 2
"I'm out," Adrian said bluntly to Terra.
Terra looked at the Illusionist for a second and then laughed. Adrian growled but held his tongue for once in his life.
"Ha, fine with me. Less to share," Terra said condescendingly. "It's a good thing Mason was taken out so early. Otherwise, I would owe him some snails."
The former coven head rolled his eyes, not surprised about his fellow rogues betting against him.
"Terra, you need to wake up," Adrian said dully. "Do you really think by taking out that disaster of a cast, we would be feared and respected again?"
Terra's eyes narrowed into a glare as a low growl escaped the back of her throat. She opened her mouth to snap to a reply, but Adrian cut her off.
"Terra, they have been beating us without trying! Mason's held in a healing house, and we don't even know what happened to Vimitir!"
(Somewhere in the Human Realm)
The transformed ex-Potion Head was still sleeping off her hangover, clutching a plush of a certain blue alien.
"Uh," Vimitir suddenly shoots up, still half asleep, "Talking monkeys! Trying to tell me the meaning of life."
The current teenage witch looked around and dropped back into bed when she saw no one. She was sleeping within a few seconds after her head hit the pillow.
(SC)
"...If that's how you truly feel," Terra said sharply, "Why did you follow me?"
"SIMPLE!" Adrian screamed dramatically, "If we somehow did take out that family from a second-rate play, then maybe all the teasing from the regulars at my mother's illusion bar would stop!"
There was a sudden banging coming from the floor, followed by Adrian's mother telling them to keep the noise down. Adrian looked down at the floor, glaring. He took a second to calm down slightly and looked at his fellow rogue witch.
"But now, I'd rather deal with all of the teasing than risk getting caught up in that chaos," Adrian said, then pointed at his bedroom door. "Now, get out of my mom's house!"
Terra glared venomously at her fellow rogue witch, her fingers twitching. The illusionist felt fear grip him as he remembered who he was talking to. Thankfully, it seemed Terra didn't consider him worth it; she scoffed and took her leave without saying another word.
Adrian watched as the ex-Plant left, his fear leaving as well. He slumped as he sighed tiredly. Adrian dragged himself to his bed and fell onto it. It wasn't long before he was sleeping, as dealing with that psycho had drained him.
(SC)
The front yard of the Owl house was abuzz; Darius, Alador, Raine, James, and Drake were sitting up tables and wiping them down. Around them were the members of the "knocked-down" Coven doing different activities under the watchful eyes of Cat, Skara, Jenny, and Bria.
Darius had just finished setting up a table and groaned when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He looked over his shoulder and caught Alador looking away, pretending to look at a rock.
The council member sighed and grabbed a rag. He was about to wipe down the table but growled when he felt eyes on him again. He threw the rag on the table and looked at the inventor fiercely.
"Is there something you want, hack?" Darius demanded angrily, nearly shouting at the top of his lungs.
Everyone jumped at the witch's sudden outburst and turned their attention to the ex-lovers. Raine frowned as they looked between their cousin and his ex-lover. The bard sighed faintly and looked at the babysitters.
"Why don't you take the kids to the playfield down the way," Raine suggested, pointing to the forest. "Someone will get you once dinner is ready."
Skara frowned as she looked in the direction her idol was pointing, remembering a section of forest was cleaned to make way for the field Raine just mentioned. The young bard looked at the older witch and nodded.
Skara and the others gathered the current children and shepherded them to the field. Once the kids were out of sight, Raine looked at the two humans.
"...Could you two help me so we could start bringing out the food?" the bard asked politely.
Drake and James looked at the two "knocked-down" witches and then at Raine, nodding. The "knocked-down" bard led the two humans into the house, closing the door softly.
The two lovers weren't aware they were alone; they just continued staring at each other. The atmosphere quickly turned awkward as Alador wanted to break eye contact but found he couldn't.
"Well?" Darius asked sharply, "Are you just going to say something?"
Alador sighed and looked at the ground. He rubbed the back of his head as he thought his words over. He gazed up at his Ex and saw Darius had crossed his arms over his chest, giving the inventor an angry look.
"I guess…" Alador started slowly, still avoiding eye contact, "I wanted to say I'm sorry."
Darius cocked an eyebrow but waited on the inventor to clarify. Alador sighed again and looked his ex in the eyes.
"I know these last few months I made you uncomfortable-"
"Uncomfortable?" Darius interrupted coldly. "My last meeting with Odalia Golddagger made me uncomfortable. You, however, are a small pest I'd rather just ignore."
Alador flinched slightly at Darius's tone but couldn't deny he didn't deserve his ex's harsh words.
He avoided eye contact again and weakly asked, "Was it so bad being with me this week?"
Alador heard Darius sigh, and he dared a look. He was slightly surprised to see the conflict in his ex-lover's eyes. Darius was now the one avoiding eye contact as he got his thoughts in order.
"...It wasn't the miserable time I was expecting," the Council member admitted. "And it made me remember all the fun times we had together."
Darius sighed and looked at his ex-boyfriend. Alador was a little taken aback by the fondness he saw in Darius's eyes.
"I may never love you like I once did. But…" Darius smiled slightly and offered Alador a hand. "Let's see if I can stomach being your friend."
Alador looked, shocked, at his ex's hand and slowly turned his eyes to Darius's face. He smiled and took Darius's hand, shaking it.
Suddenly, Steve, wearing a white shirt with a blue-collar, blue slacks, brown shoes, and an orange ascot, appeared between the two abomination witches. Startled, Darius and Alador could only look as the silly scout pulled them in a hug.
"Aww!" he gushed, "Look at you two making up. The fandom would be so HAPPPYY!"
The two abomination witches groaned, looked at Steve, and then at each other. Both made spell circles and punched the lovely scout with semi-solid, golf-sized balls of abomination goo. Steve stumbled back, letting Darius and Alador go.
"Sammy is going to take a nap now," Steve said drunkenly.
He then fell right onto his face. Alador stared at the scout perplexingly, then looked at Darius.
"Do you know how Lilith put up with that one?" the inventor asked his fellow abomination user.
Darius sighed and went back to the table he had been working on a minute ago. "I stopped wondering about that a year ago. Finish wiping these tables down before Songbird gets out with the food."
Alador nodded and went over to another table.
"MISTER BLIGHT! MISTER DARIUS!"
The two stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction they heard the voice come from. Darius frowned as he saw Jenny and Bria running towards them, looking scared.
"...Something's wrong," Darius muttered, dread growing in his stomach.
(A few minutes earlier.)
"...Is there anything we can do to help?" Danna asked Eda. "Likes like you could use a hand."
Eda looked up from the stew she was cooking and saw Sally and Danna entering the kitchen. She smiled at the two humans and waved to her right.
"If you want to slave over a stove," the bard said jokingly, "Be my guest."
Sally and Danns smiled and joined Eda at the counter. The ex-wild witch had Danna cut up some veggies and had Sally take over the stew. Eda then went to the oven to check on the roast she had going.
Eda nodded, closed the oven, and went to the fridge. She took out some chilled meat and returned to the counter. She set the meat on the counter and began cutting it up into smaller pieces.
The next few minutes saw the mothers work in a comfortable silence.
"So…" Eda asked, deciding to make small talk, "What do you two think about the demon realm?"
Sally and Danna stopped their tasks and exchanged looks. They looked at Eda and smiled.
"It's not what I was expecting," Sally answered truthfully. "But it has its charm."
"Yeah," Danna added. "I can't help but feel drawn to the realm like it's calling me."
Sally made a face as she looked at her sister-in-law. "You think that might have something to do with your witch heritage?" she asked.
Danna frowned as she thought over her brother's wife's words. She hadn't even considered her heritage might play a role in her quick acceptance of the demon realm.
"There might be," the historian answered. "And I think it might be worth looking into."
Sally smiled and said, "And you know I will help you."
Danna returned the smile and went to hug her sister-in-law. They stopped when they heard a faint voice screaming something.
"What was that?" Danna asked curiously.
"That was Darius," Raine answered as they entered the kitchen with Drake and James.
The trio of mothers gave the bard a look as they watched the bard went to the fridge and take out some of the prepared food. Drake and James then took the food out to the front lawn as the mothers noticed how tired Raine suddenly looked.
"What happened, Rainestorm?" Eda asked.
Raine sighed again and rubbed the back of their neck. Eda could tell their future life partner didn't want to talk about it. So, she smiled and walked up to them, wrapping Raine in a loving hug. Raine quickly returned the gesture and breathed in their future wife's scent.
Sally and Danna smiled at this and returned to their tasks. After a moment, the two broke apart, and Raine stared lovingly into Eda's eyes. The ex-wild witch couldn't help but smile as she bathed in her lover's warmth.
"Did you want something else, Rainestorm?" Eda asked jokingly, "Or did you just want to see this pretty face?"
Raine couldn't help but chuckle; their mood greatly improved. "Yeah," they replied. "The other guests should be getting here soon. So I wanted to get out some food before they got here. I saw there were more trays. Care to help?"
Raine looked over Eda's shoulder and saw the two human mothers busy with their tasks. They looked back at Eda and leaned in close.
"I also want to talk to you about something in private," Raine added in a whisper.
Eda cocked an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder. Though Sally and Danna were still working on their tasks, she knew they were listening in. She looked back at Raine and nodded.
Raine smiled and then went over to the fridge. They took out two small trays and handed them to Eda. They took out two more trays, then walked out of the kitchen, Eda close behind them.
Raine stopped in the living room and put their trays down. Eda also put their trays down and looked at their lovers.
"So, Rainestorm?" the female bard asked, staring deep into their lover's eyes. "Whatcha wanna talk about?"
Raine took a deep breath and looked around, using this time to collect their thoughts.
"I have been thinking about this for a while," Raine said, looking at Eda. "And I want to move into the Owl House."
Eda was a little surprised by this, and it showed on her face. She looked deeply into Raine's eyes and couldn't see any trace of doubt in their eyes. The bard was serious; they wanted to move in with Eda and her family.
"Whoa," Eda said, still in a little shock. "What brought this on, Rainestorm?"
Raine let out a semi-nervous chuckle. "Oh, nothing much," they replied lightheartedly. "But I told you that Darius was looking into buying a house on the outskirts of Bonesborugh, right?"
Eda nodded, and Raine took that as their cue to continue.
"...That got me thinking; our wedding is in a few months, so I was thinking about getting a start on things. Besides-" Raine gave Eda a smile that caused her to blush slightly, "-Who wouldn't want to share a house with such a pretty lady?"
Eda's blush got a little deeper, but she smiled lovingly. She got closer and gently put her arms around the "knocked-down" bard's waist. Eda leaned in close and was about to kiss them passionately.
"WEH!"
Startled, the two bards jumped apart, and Eda looked down. She scowled slightly when she saw King and Hooty looking up at her with near-innocent expressions.
"Does everyone want to ruin my good mood this week or what?" Eda asked somewhat sullenly.
Raine chuckled at their girlfriend's expression and patted her on the shoulder.
"We got time," they assured Eda, "For now, let's get this food out."
Eda let out an annoyed huff of air but nodded as she picked up King and Hooty. She put the "knocked-down" Titan and house demon on the couch. She gave her son a quick kiss on the forehead, patted Hooty on the head, and grabbed the trays off the table.
She looked at Raine, and they gave the ex-wild witch a quick nod. Eda sighed, and the two headed out to the front yard.
The two had just stepped through the door when they heard someone yell. Curious, they set their trays down and joined the other adults in the yard. Raine saw Jenny and Bria, out of breath and looking scared out of their minds.
"What's going on?" Raine asked curiously.
Bria was the first to catch their second wind and looked up at the adults.
"Terra Snapdragon suddenly appeared and tried to take the kids," the Glandus student wheezed.
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, shocked.
"What's she doing here?" Raine asked calmly.
Everyone who knew, or at least knew of Terra, exchanged worried looks. Darius' sudden growl got everyone's attention, and they looked at the council member. They saw the fury in the abomination witch's eyes.
"I shouldn't waited so long to take them in," he grumbled loudly.
Everyone stared at Darius as his words and their meaning took hold. Raine growled and stormed up to their cousin.
"Darius…" Raine said accusingly, "Why does it sound like you knew about this?"
Darius looked at Raine sternly and replied calmly, " I did. Mason informed me months ago that Terra, Adrian, and Vimitir were plotting to take out the Owl Familia during this week."
Raine's eyes snapped open at this information and then narrowed in a glare. They grabbed Darius by the shirt and got right in his face.
"And didn't think about telling ME!?" Raine screamed. "MY FAMILY COULD HAVE BEEN IN DANGER AND WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN ABOUT IT UNTIL IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO LATE!"
Darius looked at Raine calmly and wiped some spit from his cheek.
"The less who knew about this, the less likely we would have tipped those three off," the abomination witch stated calmly.
Darius's tone made Raine madder, and their grip on their cousin's shirt got tighter.
"Is this why you had Hunter convince my students to knock us down?" the bard asked suspiciously. "So you could keep an eye on us!?"
Darius scoffed at this idea and grabbed their cousin by the wrists. He easily freed himself from Raine's hold and took a second to fix his shirt.
"My boy wasn't aware of any of this," Darius answered pointedly.
Raine still didn't like Darius's tone and growled as they reeled back their right fist. Before the bard could throw a punch, Eda got in front of them, a scolding glare on her face.
"We're wasting too much time here!" the ex-wild witch spoke sharply. "We can beat Darius six feet into the ground later. Right now, we need to get the kids!"
She then ran toward the sports field without another word, the other close on her heels. Raine watched the group leave, sighed angrily, and looked at Jenny and Bria.
"Get into the house and tell Sally and Danna what's going on," Raine told the two. "And don't open the door unless you know it's one of us."
Raine frowned when they saw the hole where Hooty usually rested and now felt that Lilith's decision to knock the house demon down was a poor one. They then hurried after the other adults.
It took the "knocked-down" bard barely a minute to reach the field, and they felt their fear grow when they saw the other staring at something they couldn't see yet. Raine's eyes widened when they joined the others and saw the state of things.
The entire area was a mess; vines and different plants were scattered across the field, some covered in stone structures. Some vines were even on fire, suggesting the kids fought back.
But none of that mattered to anyone in the group as they frantically scanned the area for signs of their kids or Terra Snapdragon. Everyone feared the worst when they couldn't find a single trace of anyone.
"Titan…please no," Raine heard Eda whisper as they continued to search the area.
(G Corner)
And with this, I hope I brought some closure to the adults' stories I had been building this entire story.