Before the Parade: Part 2
Everyone came to a dead stop as they stared at the coven member. Eda, suspended high in the air due to Hooty's position, slid off the house demon, hitting the ground with a soft grunt.
"Want to repeat that, Lily!" Eda nearly screamed, bolting upright. "My ears were clogged from being so high up. It sounded like you said the squirt had her bones replaced with Titan's bones!"
Lilith looked at her younger sister calmly and nodded. "It is as I said, Edalyn," she replied, offering the folder to her sister. "It's all in these medical documents."
Eda stared at the folder like it had some kind of terrible disease on it. Thankfully, Lilith got the message and placed it on the table.
Camila was curious about what was written about her and slowly reached for the folder. From the corner of their eye, Raine watched as the human extended her arm, only to stop a mere inch from touching the item. Camila's hand hovered over the folder for a few seconds, fingers twitching slightly.
Camila stared at the folder and pulled her hand away, her eyes slightly haunted. Raine saw this and gently wrapped the human in a one-armed hug. Camila leaned into the embrace and took in the warmth of one of her guardians.
Eda smiled in a near-motherly fashion at the sight, and Lilith took notice. But before the elder Clawthorne could inquire about any new development, Eda turned her attention to Lilith.
"So, Lily?" the wild witch asked, trying to sound casual, "What's else you got?"
Eda's words snapped everyone's attention to the lieutenant in an instant. Lilith looked at each member of The Owl House, then sighed. She grabbed the folder and opened it.
"...To continue where we left off," the coven member said, "The initial diagnosis didn't find any other problems with the child's body. So it can be assumed that having those bones in her wouldn't cause any complexations." She closed the file and looked Raine in the eyes. "Tell me, have there been any new developments since my last visit?"
Raine stared into their girlfriend's sister's eyes for a second, then looked at Eda. The wild witch nodded, and the couple looked at Camila. The wayward human looked between her two guardians, slightly confused.
"There was something we didn't tell you about during your last visit," Raine replied, looking at Liliht, "Mainly because we didn't know what to make of it."
Lilith stared at their sister's partner, becoming confused. The bard looked back at the human and put on a warm smile.
"Camila?" Raine asked warmly. "Can you take out a few of your light glyphs?"
The human was still confused but nodded. Camila gently pushed off her guardian and reached into a pouch at her hip. She took out a few sheets of paper and looked through them. She smiled when she found what she was looking for and placed three sheets on the table.
Lilith was still confused but curious about the images on the sheets. She studied the glyphs, as Raine called them, for a few seconds before turning her attention to the Owl House residents.
Eda grinned that grin that irritated Lilith to no end as the wild witch placed a hand on the human's shoulder. Camila looked at the wild witch, and Eda nodded. The human looked back at the table and hesitantly touched the glyph in the center.
Lilith's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when she saw black lightning jump from the human's fingertip. Within seconds, the sheet disaggregated, and in its place was a ball of black light.
Lilith's eyes became transfixed on the ball as it pulsed and then turned into a standard witch's light. She stared at the light orb for a second, then wondered to the two other glyphs on the table.
Raine noticed where their girlfriend's sister's eyes were and tipped the glyph on the right. Lilith frowned as she watched the glyph glow and the paper crumpled into a ball. The coven member's frown turned studious as she looked at the final sheet.
Lilith slowly reached out her hand over the final sheet of paper. She flexed her fingers before tipping the glyph. The magic activated in the same manner as when Raine tipped the second light glyph.
"Hmm," Lilith looked at the three orbs of light before she looked at the Owl House residents. "Tell me, did you try to get another human to use one of these glyphs? I know you have a portal to the human realm."
Raine and Eda exchanged looks, and the witch witch sighed. She looked at her sister, and Lilith noticed the look in Eda's eyes. She knew from that look that the news she was about to get wouldn't be good.
"Rainestorm had that idea," Eda replied, then scowled, "But Hooty had to add his two snails to the matter."
Lilith cocked an eyebrow and looked at the house demon. She couldn't understand what the strange demon could have said, which angered her little sister so much.
The coven member looked at their sister's partner, hoping for some insight. Raine sighed and fixed their glasses.
"Like Eda said," the bard spoke softly. "We thought about her heading into the human realm. She was actually going to go through the portal when Hooty suddenly rammed into her side."
Lilith's confusion was only growing with the explanation, but she kept her peace until the end.
"...After stopping Eda from hurting Hooty," Raine continued, "I asked him why he got in Eda's way. Surprisingly, Hooty made an off-hand comment about seeing if the glyphs worked before scaring some poor human."
Lilith blinked, utterly surprised by the supposed absent-mindedly house demon's sound logic. She slowly looked at Hooty, who was busy looking out the window, his body swinging slightly. She blinked again and turned her attention back to Raine.
"...While Eda calmed down, I stepped into the human realm," Raine said, frowning, "When I tried a glyph, it crumbled in my hands."
Lilith stared at the bard for a second, frowning as the gears in her head turned. She looked down at the orbs of light, facing twisting, then sighed.
"And knowing you, Raine Whispers, you didn't want to bring another human here," The lieutenant said slowly, and Raine nodded. "So that means we have no means to see if what happened with the child is an isolated incident."
Raine frowned and nodded again. Lilith's eyes narrowed as she looked at the orbs. She studied the center spell, then turned her attention to the human between her guardians.
"I wonder…" Lilith mused loudly, "Could it be due to one of the other spells on the child?"
Lilith realized she spoke louder than intended and blushed faintly as all eyes fell on her. She took a moment to collect herself and grabbed the folder.
"As you both suspected, there's a memory spell on the child," Lilith explained, and the residents of the house nodded slowly, except for Hooty, who was still staring out the window. "However, we're wrong about many things."
Eda, Raine, and Camila gave the coven member their full attention. Lilith saw this and looked through the folder. She took a paper from it and placed it on the table.
"We first believed that the memory spell on Camila had a failsafe in place to prevent it from being tampered with," Lilith explained, waving to the sheet.
Eda's eyes narrowed as she tried to see the paper. Raine saw this and tipped the three orbs of light, popping. With their view no longer blocked, the Owl House Residents could see the diagram on the sheet of paper.
The diagram was a picture of a living being brain, no doubt Camila's. Below the picture was a purple cloud spiraling outwards. Eda's eyes narrowed as she studied the cloud. She noticed the cloud had holes and looked at her sister for clarity.
"This spell is a stand memory cage spell with one noted difference," Lilith explained, her face twisting into a slight frown. "The spell is slowly degrading."
Eda and Raine's faces twisted with confusion as they looked at their human charge. Camila looked confused, still staring at the picture of her brain. Eda looked back at her sister and gestured for her to go on.
"The way it explained in these notes," Lilith explained, "The spell needs to be charged to remain active."
"But why?" Raine asked, voicing their concern. "I don't know much about Oracle magic, but I do know that spell is used by criminals to cover their tracks."
"You are correct in that regard, Raine," Lilith replied, nodding in the bard's direction. "Which leads Head Witch Drakius to believe that the spell was made with a different goal in mind."
Eda's face twisted with rage, and reached over to Camila. She wrapped her arm around the human and squeezed Camila's right shoulder. The human looked at the female witch and nearly flinched when she saw the rage on Eda's face.
Eda didn't notice the human flinch; she was too angry to think straight. She was a criminal and thus had seen the dark underbelly of the Titan for a few years now. She once heard rumors of a criminal group using a spell like the memory cage to lure some rivals into a trap.
Eda's anger started to mix with her worry as she looked at her human charge with a side glance. If what she suspected was true, then Camila was part of a trap. But a trap from whom she didn't know, and that made her anger grow to the point she felt a familiar prickling along her arm.
Raine must have seen their girlfriend's state and reached out, patting the wild witch's arms around the human. Eda looked in their partner's direction and saw the worry and concern in their eyes. She then looked at Camila and sighed.
The wild witch took a second to calm down before she addressed her sister. "So," Eda said, trying to sound calm. "What's the other spell?"
Lilith stared at her sister, studying Eda's features, and noted the small bump on Eda's arms. She noticed the touch of her sister's partner seemed to be enough to calm her, and she filed that into the back of her mind.
"The second spell is more baffling than the altered Memory cage spell," Lilith said, turning the page in the folder.
Everyone gave the coven their undivided attention. Even Hooty took an interest. Lilith looked up from the folder and saw all eyes on her. She took out another sheet and placed it over the diagram of the brain scan.
"The second spell on the child is an absorbing spell," Lilith explained. "It was this spell that caused the friction when we created the echo."
The Owl House residents looked at the new paper and studied its data. The diagram showed magic flowing into a body meant to represent Camila. Raine frowned as the showing, then turned their attention to the Coven member.
"I don't get it," the bard said, "If what you say is true, how did you create a second echo so easily?"
Lilith stared at Raine for a minute, then sighed. She placed the folder on the table and picked up the paper she put on the table. She studied it for a second, then returned her eyes to the bard.
"I have a theory on that," Lilith stated and saw her sister roll her eyes. She ignored the gesture as she focused on the bard. "The spell has a limit. Reaching or exceeding the spell caused a failsafe to trigger. This caused the backlash we experience."
Suddenly, the sisters were in sync, flexing their spell-casting hands, recalling the numbness that settled shortly after they had created their echoes.
Raine was also deep in thought, side-eyeing their charge. If Camila had an absorbing spell on her, shouldn't the spells they used on the human also be affected? The bard thought about it for a second and reasoned why the spell didn't activate with their spells was because bard's magic is more indirect than other types of magic.
Raine returned their attention to their girlfriend's sister as she continued to explain her theory.
"I believe that when I created my echo, the magic in the child's body had grown," Lilith said, frowning slightly, "this caused the spell's preset limits to be reached, resulting in the shockwave occurring. It was a way for the spell not to exceed its limits too quickly. "
Lilith looked at her sister, and the two wore matching frowns. They were thinking similar thoughts; if what Lilith was saying was true, then somehow, magic was constantly flowing into the human child.
"...Lilith," Eda said seriously.
Everyone, even Camila and Hooty, knew the witch was serious when she called someone by their actual name.
"I know a lot about magic," the wild witch said with no hint of arrogance in her voice, "So, I know you need something to hold that magic."
Lilith nodded, agreeing with her sister, and placed the diagram on the table again.
"You are correct, Edalyn," the lieutenant agreed and pointed to the sheet. "But, as you all can see, the only thing in the child's body are the Titan's bones."
The room fell silent as they all looked at the diagram on the table. Each tried to figure out how magic was stored in a human child.
"Hoot, Hoot!" Hooty suddenly chirped, getting everyone's attention. "Maybe it's something like the Titan's Exchange."
The witches looked at the house demon with mild surprise, while Camila looked confused.
"How do you know about that, birdbrain?" the wild witch asked blandly.
"I do a lot of reading while all of you are on your adventures," the house demon replied in a chipper tone.
Eda cocked an eyebrow as she stared at the bug-type demon. She was about to retort something when she suddenly felt a tug on her dress. She looked at Camila and saw the curiousness in the human child's eyes.
"What's up, squirt?" Eda asked softly.
"...What's Titan's Exchange?" Camila asked, speaking for the first time.
Eda stared at the human for a second, then smiled motherly as she patted Camila on the head. The child's cheeks gained a faint hint of red from the gesture, but still smiled from the warmth she felt.
"Well, Squirt," Eda explained warmly, "It's an old theory, discredited before Emperor Bonehead's rule-"
"Edalyn!" Lilith suddenly interrupted, "Don't disrespect the Emperor!"
Eda looked at her sister, glaring, then rolled her eyes. She turned back to human, but before she could continue, a buzzing sound filled the air. The sisters and human looked at the bard, and Raine smiled sheepishly as they realized the noise was coming from them.
The bard summoned his scroll and looked at the message they had just got. Raine's sheepishness gave way to confusion the more they read. The emotional shift didn't go until by a certain wild witch.
"You good, Rainestorm?" Eda asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
Raine looked at their girlfriend, sighed, and called off their scroll. The bard stood, grabbed their half-eaten lunch, and walked over to the counter.
"Yeah," Raine replied, taking out a storage container and putting their lunch in it. "It's just…Scooter called an emergency meeting of all High-Ranking Bard members."
Lilith frowned in the bard's direction. "I found that odd," the lieutenant commented. "I have never meant the man, but he's rumored to keep his coven well-organized."
Raine finished transferring their lunch into the container and put the dirty dish in the sink. They looked at their girlfriend's sister and nodded.
"You're not wrong there," Raine replied, frowning. "The meeting is also mandatory, so I hope nothing's wrong."
The bard looked at their girlfriend, and Eda got the message. The wild witch looked at her sister, and Lilith noticed the look she was getting.
The lieutenant returned the papers she took out to the folder and set it on the table. She stood and looked at the bard.
"I will accompany you," Lilith said, waving at the folder. "That's your copy. Make sure you review it properly."
Eda nodded as she stood up. "Squirt," she said, looking at the human. "When you're done with lunch, make sure you do the dishes."
Camila puffed out her cheeks in slight annoyance but nodded before she went back to her half-cold lunch. Eda smiled motherly at the human, then turned serious as she looked between her fellow witches.
The three witches exited through the back door and went to the front yard at Eda's insistence.
"Now, sister," Lilith said seriously, "I believe there's something else you wanted to talk about. And since you don't want to do it in front of the child, I can assume it has to do with the cult."
Eda stared at her sister for a minute, sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She looked at the front door and saw Hooty still inside the house.
"You might wanna brace yourself for this, Lilith," Eda replied, "Because what I have to say is gonna get heavy."
Lilith cocked an eyebrow as her younger sister began to recount the events that happened a few days ago. The Coven member couldn't hide her shock when she learned something.
"Mother visited you regularly?" Lilith exclaimed.
"Not now, Lilith," Eda hissed exasperatedly, clenching her jaw tightly.
Lilith nodded somewhat shakily, still hung up on the fact that their mother visited her younger sister on a yearly basis. She took a few breaths to calm her nerves, then looked at the couple.
"Shortly after Eda changed," Raine said, taking over for Eda, "She was attacked by the cultists."
Lilith blinked, then looked over at Hooty. Since her first encounter with the bug type, she had done a bit of research on the rare breed. House demons were highly territorial, and once they calmed a territory, they were known to be very observant about their surroundings.
So, for the cultists to attack shortly after Eda transformed implies so much.
"But that's not the heavy part."
Eda's voice brought Lilith out of her thoughts, and she looked at her younger sister. Eda's face was firmly set as she began the next part.
"During the fight, I saw through the owl beast's eyes for the first time."
Lilith was shocked. She had never heard of a curse like the one Eda had reacted in such a manner. She kept her composure and gestured for Eda to continue.
"Lilith…these creeps could use all types of magic," Eda concluded, face growing grim.
Lilith's eyes snapped open as the implication of her sister's words hit, and she felt her knees begin to shake. Suddenly, her doubts about her superior's suspicions were washed away.
"Titan…" The lieutenant said breathlessly, holding her head with her right hand. "This is far worse than we first thought."
(G Corner)
I would like to go on record saying that having Titan's bone in her wouldn't cause Camila to change in any sense of the word. The bones play an important part down the line, and I put a little hint in this chapter about the role of the bones.