Ladies and gentlemen, we are back with the next chapter of The Owl Family.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to The Owl House. I only own this story idea.
It was a stormy evening on the Boiling Isles as dark clouds rolled over the Owl House. Inside, Luz started recording a video on her phone, zooming in close to King's eye. "And here we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons," she narrated like it was a documentary, mimicking a British accent. The video zoomed out to show King trying to tear a sock off his nose. "Facing his natural enemy, the ducky sock."
Grunting, King managed to tear the sock to pieces with his feet. He stood up and ripped off the rest, stomping on the pieces. "Where are you now, ducky sock?!" He slammed his fists on the remnants.
Hunter rolled his eyes with a soft laugh from his spot on the sofa. The blond was lounging on the couch, wearing headphones as he read his potion book. He was researching the potion he used the other day, wanting to find a way to perfect it.
"So, why'd you call me here again?" Luz asked from her spot on the floor, slightly lowering her phone.
"Oh, yeah," King suddenly remembered what he was going to do. He stood up and grunted as he climbed up a table in front of a tarp-covered board. "Human Luz, you've been so obsessed with witchcraft that you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for…" He ripped off a curtain to reveal a corkboard of photos of various demons, putting on a hat and spinning the cord on top of it. "Demons 101. Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone."
Luz zoomed in with her camera. "And cute little paws."
King sighed. "And cute little paws. True. We live only to create chaos and misery," He held up a ballpoint pen, pointing at the pictures on the board. "Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments. Sometimes."
"Oh, you guys are sensitive." Luz cooed a bit.
"Even demons have inner demons." He tore off one of the pictures to reveal a snarling demon with a spikey shell. "The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback. He is a–"
"Bad boy!" She interrupted again, adding a colored filter over the screen, followed by several stickers.
"Luz, pay attention. This information could save your life someday." King spoke up, gesturing to the board as Luz kept playing with her phone.
"No, no. I am so paying attention," Luz shook her head. "This is my paying attention face," She pointed to her face before nodding with a serious expression. "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm."
"You weren't making that face a few minutes ago," Hunter commented, not looking up from his book when Luz glared at him. Lightning crashed, followed by a thunder rumble as Luz, King, and Hunter looked towards the door.
"Uh-oh. Looks like it's gonna rain." King commented.
Luz gasped sharply upon hearing that. "I love the rain," She got up and headed for the door.
"Hey, wait," King held out a paw.
"You don't wanna go out there!" Hunter called out but was ignored. "Luz!" He set aside his book and ran after him.
Luz exhaled as she opened the door, stepping out into the open. "I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair." She twirled around before kneeling down to talk to a flower. "I bet you do, too, little buddy." However, when a water drop dropped on the flower, it withered and died immediately. "What?" Her eyes widened fearfully.
"Boiling rain!" Eda ran out of the forest to the house, covering her forehead with her arm. "Everybody inside now!"
"Huh?" Luz yelped as the Owl Lady grabbed her arm and dragged her backward into the house, tackling Hunter as he entered the doorframe. Objects crashed and clattered before Eda looked up from the floor in relief.
"Phew! That was close. But the important thing is you didn't get hurt."
Contradicting her statement, Luz was lying painfully on the floor, tangled with Hunter and surrounded by what was left of King's demon lesson. "Yep." Luz groaned as a cup fell on her head while King climbed out of the wreckage. "Not hurt."
(A short time later)
Outside the Owl House, the teens and King hung out on the porch while they patched themselves up, Luz having her cat hood up. King put a bandage on a burn on Luz's arm before putting another bandage on his nose. "Look, now we're boo-boo buddies."
Her eyes shined as she squealed and fell over. "Oh, my gosh, I love you so much."
"Hunter, wanna be a boo-boo buddy, too?"
"No thanks, I've got a reputation to keep up," The blond responded as he checked a scrape on his arm before determining it wasn't serious. Luz then looked at Eda, who was preparing a spell. She had a yellow protective shield over her head to protect her from the rain.
"A boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles. The weather here is so fun!" she commented as she sat up.
"Yeah, we don't have weather," Eda corrected her. "We have plagues, gorenados, shale hail, painbows."
"It's like a rainbow, but looking at it turns you inside out," King explained. Luz pulled the drawstrings of her hoodie closed.
"So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight," Eda warned them.
"And if the rain doesn't get you, the Snaggleback will," King said, pulling a book out of nowhere and opening it to an image of the Snaggleback. "They wander the rain, feeding on boiled tourists."
"Well, whatever the case, this force field spell should protect the house from boiling rains and made-up demons," Eda teased him.
"Hoot! Well, hurry it up with that force field," Hooty called out angrily. "That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it," Eda said, grasping her staff and using it to grab the light ball. She spun the staff around before stamping it down on the ground. A round orange force field engulfed the house, then shrank to shape closely around it.
"Wow! Someday I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady," Luz pulled down her hood as Eda walked back toward the house. "Magical, sassy, surprisingly foxy for her age. Hey, why do they call you the Owl Lady, anyway?" she asked, not noticing Hunter stiffen at her question.
She placed a hand on her hip. "'Cause I'm so wise," Eda stated proudly.
"'Cause she coughs up rat bones," Hooty said, getting a glare from the Owl Lady.
"I think it's 'cause she gets distracted by shiny objects," King stated, hands on his hips with his book under his arm.
"No, I don't," She denied.
"Yes, you do," Hunter retorted.
To prove his point, King took out the pen from before. He clicked it, and the diamond on top started to glow.
Eda became delightedly fascinated with the pen. "It sparkles and shimmers. It shines and delights. I must have it for my nest…" She lunged for the pen, but King put it behind his back, and she crashed into the ground with a groan.
"You have a nest?" Luz asked excitedly, kneeling beside her. "I want a nest! Nest party!"
Eda groaned tiredly as Luz helped her up. "Ugh. That force field really took it out of me."
"Uh-oh. Moving a little slow," King teased her. "Age finally catching up to ya?" Eda hooded his head with the hat in response, making him scream. "Ahhh! Darkness!"
"Seriously, you okay, Eda?" Hunter asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine; I'm just tired," the Owl Lady responded. "Have you heard from Raine?"
"They sent a message a few minutes ago," He held up his Pensta scroll. "They said they're holed up at the tavern with some students, and they'll come home as soon as the rains let up."
"There was also another reminder…" Hunter started, glancing at Luz since it was private.
"Yeah, I know. I've got one on stand-by," Eda waved off before opening the door and tiredly stepped inside.
"This is perfect," Luz grinned happily as she watched her leave. "Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell."
"I don't think that's a good idea right now, Luz," Hunter warned her.
"And don't you wanna finish our lesson?" King asked sadly. "I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Me!"
"Oh, uh, sorry, King," Luz turned to him apologetically. "But… magic." She then followed Eda into the house. King became visibly frustrated as his horn pierced his hat, deflating it.
"Sorry, buddy," Hunter patted him. King sighed as he walked away while Hunter decided to finish reading his room, knowing Eda would take over the sofa.
(A short time later)
Hunter was taking notes at his desk when the lamps suddenly flared and died. "Hooty! Wake up!" He yelled, knowing the house demon controlled the lights.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash, followed by Hooty's screams. "Hoot! Hoot!"
"Hooty!" Hunter grabbed his potion belt and ran out the door.
"Hoot, oh, hoot!"
Hunter, joined by Luz and King, reached the living room and gasped. The door was off its hinges, and the living room had been torn apart. Just past the broken door was a shadowy beast, its form obscured by the darkness in the room. Hooty's eyes were X-ed out as the creature left deep scratches in the wood, growling when it noticed the other three before fleeing. Everyone ran up to Hooty to check on him.
"Hooty! Are you in there?" Luz tapped his beak a few times and checked his eyes, but he didn't respond. "Whatever did this escaped into the rain. What could survive that?" she asked King as he touched the claw marks in the door frame.
"Oh, my gosh. The Snaggleback!" King realized something. "It feeds during the rains. It must have stumbled across our house and seen us inside."
Hunter narrowed his eyes at the unconscious house demon as he said ominously, "That was no Snaggleback…"
Before the others could ask, something howled, getting their attention. They went outside in time for the shadowy creature to jump through the upper-floor window.
"This is terrifying," Luz commented before glaring down at King. "So why do you look so happy?"
King squealed giddily. "Because this could be a lesson. This would be a great way for you to see a wild demon up close and personal."
"You want to go toward those creepy sounds? No way!" Luz denied immediately.
"What if Eda gets eaten? She's upstairs and defenseless because you knocked her out," King pointed out.
"Wait a minute, what?" Hunter questioned, looking at the human girl.
"Uhm, well," she said sheepishly. "Eda showed me a light spell, but then she passed out, and then King went to get this potion thing that he thought gave Eda magic and…"
"Where was this elixir?"
"On Eda's nightstand," King answered.
The blond's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no!" he raced back inside, much to the confusion of the other two.
"What was that about?" Luz asked.
"I don't know, but we should go after him," King said.
With that, the two prepared for battle. Luz put on rubber gloves while King taped a pillow to his chest. The human then put bandages under her eyes like eye black, grinning as she grabbed a hockey stick. King ran past the other in favor of grabbing Francois.
"Weh!"
The duo approached the staircase, Luz using the flashlight on her phone to light the way. The floorboards creaked as they went upstairs.
"Where do you think Hunter went?" Luz whispered.
"I don't know, but I hope he and Eda hadn't been eaten," King responded. "What a time for Raine not to be here…"
They reached the hallway and stopped as the door to Eda's room creaked open, making them share a nervous look. Luz opened the door, revealing a trashed, empty room and a shattered window. Lightning struck briefly, casting the scene into an ominous light.
"Oh, my gosh. Eda!" Luz panicked as she ran to Eda's nest.
"She got snaggle-backed!" King added.
"Eda?" Luz peeked into the nest. Her mentor wasn't there, but when she held up a damaged pillow, she found slash marks like the ones on the door. "No! Slash marks! King! You're the demon expert. I need your help."
"I'll go get my demon book!" He ran out of the room to go get it. As he scurried down the hall, he didn't notice a shadow snarl as it passed over him. He ran back into Eda's room, holding two books. "Wait, wait. First edition or second?" He looked up and gasped when he saw the room was empty, with no sign of Luz. "Luz?" He dropped his books in shock, one opening to the page on the Snaggleback. "The Snaggleback got her!"
The shadow snarled again as it passed behind him, King noticing it this time as a shadow disappeared around the corner. He then chased it down the hall after it. "You craven beast! Give me back my boo-boo buddy!" He chased up the stairs before rounding a corner, stopping with a gasp. A closet door creaked close, Luz's shoe upside down in front of it. "Luz?" He whimpered a bit, picking up the shoe before growing angry. Using the item like a weapon, he opened the door and entered the closet. He looked around at all the junk until he noticed a shadow with feet hiding behind some clothes.
"There's nowhere for you to run!" He held up the shoe and moved the clothes aside… to find a small creature with a spiky shell. "Snaggleback?" The creature looked up at him. "Wow. You are a lot shorter in person."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," He stammered in fear. "I–I just needed a place to hide from the rains."
"Then why did you break down our door and take Luz?" King accused him. "That's not cool, man. Bad Snaggleback!"
"I-I didn't do any of that stuff. I snuck in through a window just now," The Snaggleback explained, confusing King.
"Huh? Well, then what–" He was cut off by a crashing noise when suddenly, a shadowed claw reached down and grabbed the Snaggleback by the shell.
"Oh, no! A twist!" He cried as he was pulled through the ceiling.
King could hear snarls and stomps as he backed away from the hole. Then, something banged against the door. King yelped, whimpering when he heard a familiar growling. The door creaked open, revealing the shadowy beast as it snarled at him. It spat out the Snaggleback's shell before roaring at King, who backed away slightly.
"Oh, my."
The beast slowly advanced inside, forcing King against the wall as he hugged Luz's shoe close to him. "Stay back!" He yelped as the creature came closer. "Hey, hey. I am the king of demons, okay? And as such, I demand you to barf my friends back up."
The beast screeched and raised a claw to strike. King yelled and ducked, and the claws scored the wall where his head was a moment before, leaving the same marks as downstairs. King ran for the hall and proved to be far more nimble than the beast, rounding corners with ease while the beast slammed into the walls, stumbling after him a little. King yelped as he slid around a corner, and the thing snarled as it started to catch up to him. When King rounded a second corner, a gloved hand pulled him into a room. The door closed with a squeak as the beast entered the hallway slowly, exhaling loudly. King listened as the creature stomped away, its shadow passing the door. He then looked up to see that the person who had saved him was Luz.
"Luz?"
"King!" She held him up happily before putting him down. "Oh, I'm so glad you're safe."
"Where did you go?" King wondered.
"I was checking on Eda, and she was gone, and then you were gone. I also tripped and lost my shoe," She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Oh, hey, you found it." she noticed before taking it back, raising her foot to put her shoe on.
"I–" King started before noticing a piece of paper on the bottom of her foot. "What's that?" He took the scrap and read it. "'Keeps the curse at bay.'" He gasped sharply, taking out a matching piece of paper from under his collar and putting them together to read one sentence. "'An elixir a day keeps the curse at bay.'"
"Curse?" Luz blinked in confusion. "Wait, what are you trying to say?"
Before he could answer, the door opened, causing Luz and King to yell. "Okay, I couldn't find any downstairs," Hunter said as he closed the door and walked into the room. "Hopefully, she has some in her room."
"Hunter!" Luz gasped, jumping on the older boy and hugging him.
"Oof!" He gasped at the sudden contact.
"You're okay!" She cheered, letting go of him. "I worried that thing had gotten you!"
"Trust me, she's not going to hurt me," He responded without thinking.
"'She?'" The human repeated, making the blond's eyes widen. "What are you talking about?"
"I was wrong the whole time," King said. "That's no Snaggleback. That creature is–"
They all screamed and fell back as a clawed hand burst through the door. A body followed it as the door was broken down, the creature growling as it turned with a big grin to reveal a familiar face. "Eda?" Luz asked in shock upon seeing her.
Eda snarled and stalked closer, raising a claw with a roar to swipe at them. Luz screamed and braced herself, her phone falling out of her pocket. The camera went off when it hit the floor, and the screen cracked. The flash blinded Eda, making her scream and cover her eyes. Luz looked up in shock but took the distraction to grab King and take off onto the balcony. Hunter took a different direction and climbed into Eda's nest, feigning sleep as Eda snapped out of it, standing up with a roar that echoed loudly beyond the house.
She stalked the room as the rain fell outside, sniffing and searching for them. She looked down at Hunter as he pretended to sleep, nuzzling him briefly before continuing her hunt. She turned her attention to the balcony garden, not noticing Luz and King hiding behind a small stone wall. The human had her hands over her mouth while the little demon had his on his head. Eda seemed to small them, growling and sniffing closer to them as she looked around. Luz slowly grabbed a can and threw it, causing Eda to screech at the sound and chase it.
Hunter opened an eye and sighed in relief as he sat up. "She's gone," he assured them as Luz stood up to check for herself, King looking guilty.
"Oh, man. Did you see her eyes? They were like–" Luz snarled as she pulled at her eyes, Hunter climbing over the wall as silently as he could before she looked at King. "What happened to her?"
"Don't you see? The elixir I gave you doesn't give Eda powers. It prevents her from turning into that thing." King explained, sounding distressed.
"Yeah, no kidding," Hunter said, keeping an eye on the door in case Eda returned.
"Hey, why did you hide in Eda's nest when she came in?" Luz asked the male witch.
"When Eda's curse acts up, she acts like I'm her owl chick or something. She looks for me, drags me back to her nest, and gets hissy if I try to leave," He explained as they sat down.
"In a slightly creepy way, that's actually kinda cute." The human commented.
"I'm just glad she didn't try to feed me," he shuddered, recalling previous experiences like that.
"So, this has happened before?"
"Not in a while, but yes," He nodded. "The message Raine sent earlier was a reminder for Eda to take her elixir."
"Wait, how come I didn't know about this?" King questioned.
The blond sighed. "Eda wanted to be the one to tell you, and… she doesn't like talking about it. The last time she had an episode was years ago when Raine took you to the market with them. The only reason I know is because she transformed while I was home alone with her."
"What happens when Raine's around?"
Hunter was quiet for a minute before he shook his head, saying, "We don't talk about that."
"Oh, this is all my fault!" King lamented, hugging his knees. "I'm so sorry, guys. I-I just wanted Luz to be into demons like she's into magic. I don't have many friends, and no one even pays that much attention to me." Luz glanced away, feeling guilty. "I thought maybe if I taught you, finally someone would care about creatures like me."
"Well…" Luz held out the pen. "Let's finish the lesson."
"Huh?" King looked up at her in confusion.
"Eda's turned into some kind of demon, and we need to save her. So, who knows more about demons than the best teacher in the world?"
King brightened and pointed to himself, and Luz nodded with a smile. He took the pen and stood up, then leaped forward and hugged her with a happy giggle while Hunter just watched them with a slight smile. King smacked some leaves onto the floor. "Let's see," He started drawing Eda's demon form on the leaves. "She was bigger, covered in feathers, and had giant black eyes. Demons with black eyes are usually sensitive to light." He looked at Luz's phone, remembering the camera. "That's it. Light! Luz, use your human wonder rectangle."
"I can't," she said, holding the camera up and showing him the cracked screen. "My camera's all blasted."
"Then… what about that light spell?" King pointed out, earning a sigh as she slumped against the wall.
"You saw me. I can't draw circles in the air. I'm not like Eda…" she said before realizing something. "But Hunter is!" She turned to the blond witch. Hunter, do a light spell!"
"I, uh…" Hunter stuttered, flustered with being put on the spot.
"Come on, you're a witch; you have a bile sac thing, right?"
"I'm…" He sighed in defeat. "I'm supposed to."
"What do you mean?" Luz asked, confused.
"Time to tell her, Hunter," King said sympathetically.
"Tell me what?"
Hunter sighed again as he sat back. "I'm a powerless witch, a witch with no magic powers of their own. I can't cast spells like Eda or Raine."
"But you got to magic school," Luz said in shock.
"Yeah, I'm in the potion track. You don't need magic to make a potion."
"Why didn't you say anything before?"
"Because it's embarrassing, okay?" Hunter snapped, not able to keep the frustration in any longer. "Everyone says not to let it bother me, but it does! 'You have any idea what it feels like to not belong?!"
Luz lowered her gaze, feeling guilty for pressing. "… More than you think," She murmured. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." Hunter brushed it off, running his hands over his hair as he tried to calm down.
The human girl sighed again, "Well, we're back to square one. We can't do a light spell." She pulled out her phone and played the video again.
"… spell circle is really key…" As the video reached the end, it started to glitch, and something appeared that wasn't there before: a pattern. The video stopped on it, and Luz gasped as she looked at her screen.
"There's a pattern in the spell circle!"
"What?" Hunter looked at Luz's phone.
"Where?" King looked over her shoulder.
Luz grabbed a leaf and took the pen. "It looks like this." She laid the leaf over her phone and traced over the pattern. "There," She tapped the pattern with the pen, and the symbol began to glow. Luz gasped as the leaf folded into itself, brightening until it was a small floating ball of light. She gently cupped it in her hands, bringing it to eye level. "It's beautiful." Thunder rumbled, and rain hissed as it hit the shield while they all stared at the ball of light. "Oh, my gosh. I just did magic." She stood up triumphantly, pumping her fists. King was barely hanging onto her shoulder, swinging his legs. "I just did magic! I just did magic!"
Hunter smiled as he watched her, looking off to the side. "Maybe there's a way after all…" He looked back in surprise when he noticed Luz kneeling before him with the light ball.
"For both of us," She said, finishing his statement. Hunter's eyes started to shimmer, realizing his question earlier meant something to her.
"Uh, I know this is supposed to be a sweet moment, but we're not going to stop anything with something that small," King reminded them as he got to the ground. They heard Eda screech in the distance and ducked down to cower. "What do we do now?"
"I think I know how to get Eda back," Luz smiled, holding out her fist. "Will you help me, boo-boo buddy?"
"Hmm, I'm kind of over that nickname. But okay." The three fist-dumped together.
"Hunter?"
"Just tell me what we need to do."
(A short time later)
Beast Eda was sniffing around the living room. Hooty was still unconscious on the floor but had black eyes. She pounced onto the treasure chest next to the fallen door, sniffing a book, when a clicking sound distracted her. She turned to see King holding the pen, clicking it on and off as he leaned against the door to the hall.
"Oh, what lovely thing do we have here? It's just so dang shiny," he said, throwing it up into the air as it glowed. "Oh, my. Oh, dear."
Eda stared at the pen's light, cooing distractedly as the top part reflected in her eyes. She screeched and lunged for it, only for King to run into the hallway, Eda chasing after him. A turn later, King ducked down a different hallway next to phase one of the trap. Eda slid on a pile of books and papers the trio had put out, causing her to crash into a wall. She looked up with a gasp when Luz tossed a blanket over her head, making her screech loudly.
"I'm sorry, Eda. But it's for your own good!" Luz and Hunter finish drawing a giant light glyph in red crayon on the wall. With a grunt, they slammed their hands on it to activate it, producing a blinding light. Eda screamed in agony as light filled the hallway…
Back in witch form, Eda opened her eyes as she sat up in her nest, taking a link of straws out of her mouth that connected to another elixir. She was… mostly back to normal as she realized the left side of her face was still partially transformed, and part of the jewel she wore was black as well. "Ahh!" She yelped and slurped more of her elixir, the gem turning fully gold as the rest of her face changed back.
W-What happened? Oh, I have the worst headache," she said, putting a hand to her head. "And my mouth tastes like roadkill."
Eda began to gag and retch before leaning over to vomit out a giant owl pellet. The pellet then broke open to reveal the Snaggleback she had eaten earlier, though it was missing its shell.
"I'm just gonna… lie here for a minute," he murmured, thoroughly disturbed by what had happened. Eda looked down and grabbed her almost empty elixir bottle.
"Hmm? I was looking for that."
"Actually, we found an extra one in your closet." King walked over, jerking a thumb behind him.
"King?" She connected the dots and began to feel furious. "King! You stole my elixir? I ought to break every bone in your–"
"Shh!" He shushed her, to her confusion, and turned around as he whispered, "Over there."
She saw Luz and Hunter sitting by the broken window, surrounded by balls of light, seemingly having a heart-to-heart conversation. Sitting on their knees, Hunter watched as the human drew out another glyph as thunder rumbled outside, watching closely as he copied her. She activated the glyph, grinning as the paper turned into light and floated up to join the others.
"Wow," Eda was amazed, looking at the dozens of light balls near the ceiling. "How is she doing that?"
"I don't know, but Luz did it all on her own," King said, looking at the lights before glancing at Eda nervously. "Hey, I, uh, kind of messed a bunch of things up back there," he turned around, meeting a glare from Eda. "And I just wanted to say I'm sorry."
"Well, you better be. I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it," She paused as she looked away in thought. "But it's not entirely your fault." Luz sent up one more light as she and Hunter approached them. "I haven't been completely honest with you guys, and the only reason Hunter knows is because he had to see it before. When I was younger, I was cursed. I don't know exactly how it happened. All I know is that if I don't take my elixir…" She held the bottle in her hands. "Well, that's why people call me the Owl Lady. No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's manageable."
"Whoa," Luz commented. "So, are you okay?"
"There's nothing for you to worry about," Eda sat up a little, holding her arm. It's all under control, and as long as no one steals my elixir–King," she pointed down at him pointedly, and he looked away in slight shame. Then I'm fine. But, hey, look at this," she gestured to the teens. "A human and a powerless witch doing magic. Good on you, kids."
Luz smiled, hands behind her back. "I had some encouragement from a great teacher," She looked down at King.
"Oh, you," King replied bashfully.
"Hey, hey!" Hooty shouted as he had finally woken up. "Is anyone there? Hello? Hoot? I'm on the floor. It's cold!"
"That voice," King said in annoyance. "That horrific voice!" He went for the door, Luz turning to Eda.
"We'll take care of him. You stay in bed. Come on, you goopy fella," She picked up the Snaggleback. "We'll set you free now."
"Ow, ow, ow. I think my tail was digested." He groaned as they left the room, leaving Hunter with Eda.
The Owl Lady noticed the blond looking down, like he had something on his mind. "You okay, kid?"
The blond sighed. "Yes and no. Yes, because I told Luz about my… magic situation. No, because I haven't told her the whole story. I just retold the fake story that was drilled into me in my past life."
Eda hummed in understanding. While Hunter had never fully elaborated on his past, she knew enough to know that it wasn't kind. His curiosity for magic was repressed, most likely with violence, and just when he found a way out, the universe decided to kick him in the butt again.
"You'll be okay, kid," Eda comforted him. "You've got me, Raine, King, your Hexside pals, and now, you've got Luz. Whether the past comes back or not, you won't face it alone." Hunter smiled slightly at her. "When you're ready to tell them, I'll help you when you need me to. Hopefully, King and Luz will leave the elixirs alone after today."
"Hopefully," He agreed. "We should also go get more elixirs, I only found two more in the closet."
"We'll ask Raine to pick up more from Morton's," Eda nodded. "Speaking of, how are they holding up?"
"They sent another message while you were sleeping. They said the rain had lightened up enough for a cloak to protect them. They should be back in a few minutes."
"Well, then, I'm going to take a nap so we can actually spend some time together."
"Then, I'll leave you alone," Hunter headed for the room. "See ya, Eda."
"Later, kiddo," She waved slightly as he walked out the door, closing it behind him. The blond frowned once he was alone, thinking of the past. Then, he shook his head and put on a brave face before heading to his room, letting Eda rest after the night she had.
We're done with this chapter. Before moving on to the next project, I'm going to take this story to Hooty's Moving Hassle. I'll get started on Covention today.