It was a dark and cloudy day in the Boiling Isles today. Flint was propped up on the couch as he sketched in his sketchbook. Held by a paperclip on the left side of the book was a printed picture of a Zorua from Pokémon, specifically the original Dark-Type variant, as he attempted to draw a more realistic version of it on the other page. Or rather, he was drawing, but had elected to take a small break…
For completely understandable reasons.
Luz was sitting on the floor in front of him as she recorded King with her phone as he attempted to pry a duck-patterned sock off his face.
"And here we have the most fearsome creature in the world, the King of Demons. Facing his natural enemy…the ducky sock!" Luz spoke, acting like an animal documentary narrator, eliciting a snicker from Flint as he stopped to watch with an amused smile.
King grunts, struggling as he attempts to remove the aforementioned sock with rubber ducky designs on it from his face, and failing.
"A truly dastardly foe indeed, as it preys on the King of Demons' innate curiosity, luring him into an unintentional trap." Flint joined in, doing his own narrator voice.
That was a lie. Flint was the one who put the sock on King's face.
He was not disappointed in the results.
Kings' annoyance, whether it was more at the sock or the humans' antics, tears the sock into pieces, then punches the remnants. "Where are you now, ducky sock?" King said triumphantly before pointing at Flint. "Just you wait! You will know my wrath!"
Flint gave a sassy smile. "Uh-huh. Sure I will." Flint said sarcastically.
"So, why'd you call us here again?" Luz asked.
"Oh, yeah," King said, climbing up a table with something covered by a curtain as Luz continued recording him. "Human Luz, Human Flint, you've been so obsessed with witchcraft that you haven't learned anything about my kind. Prepare yourself for..." King rips off the curtain to reveal a corkboard of photos of various demons; puts on a hat and spins the cord on top of it. "Demons 101!" King announced.
King began to pace across the table. "Demons like me are grim tricksters of the twilight, creatures of sulfur and bone."
"And cute little paws," Luz added, Flint nodding in agreement behind her.
King sighs with a half-lidded look. "And cute little paws. True." King admits before pulling out a pen and raising it high. "We live only to create chaos and misery. Our only weaknesses are purified water and passive-aggressive comments. Sometimes."
Flint looked nonplussed. "I highly doubt either of those things." He remarked.
"Hey! Even demons have inner demons!" King said angrily before tearing off one of the pictures to reveal a snarling demon with a spiky shell. "The most powerful demon of all is the Snaggleback. He's a-"
"Bad boy!" Luz interrupted as she messed with the filters on her phone.
"Luz, pay attention. This information could save your life someday." King chastised.
Flint shrugged. "While I do agree with you on that, I get the feeling you're about as much of an expert as Gus is with human stuff…which I'm sad to say isn't exactly a high bar to begin with," Flint said with skepticism. Flint didn't have anything against his Illusion track friend, but he was by no means an expert on human wares (let alone biology. Like seriously? Gills? Where the hell did he even get that idea from?).
Before King could make a retort, lightning crashed, immediately followed by a thunder rumble. The trio looked outside in response.
"Uh-oh. Looks like it's gonna rain." King groaned.
Luz gasped as she got up and bolted toward the door. "I love the rain."
Flint saw King's eyes widen with panic. "Hey, wait!" King called out, a bit panicked and confusing Flint. What was he so worried about?
Luz opens the door and exhales. "I always love feeling the first few drops in my hair."
"Hey, um, Luz? I wouldn't go out there right now if I were you." Hooty said.
Luz kneels down next to a nearby flower and turns to Hooty questioningly as Flint peeks out the door. "How come?" Both of them asked.
A drop of water hits the flower, making it wither and die immediately as smoke rises from the flower's corpse with a hiss.
The two's pupils shrink at the sight of the withered flower.
"What?/Nani?" Luz and Flint said respectively in shock.
Another drop splashed onto Luz's left arm as she hissed in pain. "Ow!"
Eda suddenly appears from the brush ahead and runs toward Luz. "Boiling rain! Everybody inside! Now!"
Luz yelped as Eda grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back to the house. There was just one problem…
"Waitwaitwaitwait-!" Flint screamed out in panic, as he realized he was still standing in the door and Eda's path!
Eda leaped forward, crashing into Flint and knocking him back as he failed to get out of the way in time. Eda let go of Luz in the process, sending the two teens flying across the room as a crashing sound can be heard.
Eda huffed in relief as she looked back out toward the rain. "Phew! That was close. But the important thing is you didn't get hurt." Eda said as she turned to the two to make sure they were-
Eda snorted loudly, barely containing her laughter. "You two need a moment there?~" Eda asked teasingly.
Flint had managed to take the brunt of the blow, redirecting himself on instinct and cushioning Luz's fall. Flint was now sprawled out on the ground with clutter all around, and Luz was face-to-face with him on her stomach on top of him…leaving them in a very particular position.
The two recollected themselves a bit and registered Eda's question, looking each other in the eyes as it finally clicked, indicated by their faces turning tomato-red (and Eda could swear she saw steam shoot out the boy's ears).
The two humans had managed to calm down their blushes a while after Luz…dismounted Flint, and now they were with King looking out as Eda stood in the rain with a bubble-like barrier over her.
Flint held some bandages in his hand as he put some antibiotic cream on one and put it over the burn Luz had gotten earlier. "There we go."
King then swipes a bandage from Flint's hand and puts one on his snout.
"Look, now we're boo-boo buddies." King declared.
Luz squeals quietly, then falls over, overwhelmed by King's cuteness. "Oh, my gosh, I love you so much." She then rolled over to look at Flint expectantly.
Flint looked completely out of it, zoning out at King. Suddenly, he grabbed King and put the demon in his lap protectively, wrapping his arms around King and making an odd sound that even caught Luz off-guard. Wordlessly, the boy ripped open another bandage and put it across his own nose, staring at Eda as she prepared a spell in the form of a ball of light the size of a soccer ball in her hands.
"Um…you can be a boo-boo buddy too?" King said, a bit confused by Flint's odd behavior. This only made Flint hold him closer and make the weird sound again, almost like some kind of purr.
"Ooooooookay…so a boiling rainstorm on the Boiling Isles? The weather here sure is interesting." Luz turned her attention to Eda. Even she was getting a bit weirded out by Flint's antics.
Eda turned back to talk to Luz. "Yeah, we don't have weather. We have plagues, gorenados, shale hail, painbows."
Luz turned to King (still in Flint's embrace) for an explanation. "It's like a rainbow but looking at it turns you inside out."
Now genuinely horrified, Luz pulls the drawstrings of her hoodie closed.
"So, until the boiling rain stops, no one is allowed outside tonight," Eda said.
"And if the rain doesn't get you, the Snaggleback will," King said as he opened his book, showing more Snaggleback images. "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 said, directing the last remark at King. Evidently, it would appear she didn't believe the Snaggleback was real.
"Hoot! Well, hurry it up with that force field. That rain is getting closer to my precious stucco." Hooty said in partial panic.
Eda rolled her eyes at the…whatever Hooty was. "Yeah, yeah. I got it." She uses her staff to grab the light ball and stamps the staff down to the ground. A round orange force field engulfs the house, then shrinks to shape closely around it. With the spell complete, Eda began walking toward the house.
"Wow! Someday I'd like to be as cool as Eda the Owl Lady. Magical, sassy, and surprisingly foxy for her age." Luz admired.
Flint seemed to finally snap out of the weird trance he was in. "Maybe you can-" Flint paused midsentence before looking at Eda questioningly. "Say, there's something that's been buggin' me. Why do they call you the Owl Lady?"
Eda smiled smugly. "'Cause I'm so wise."
"'Cause she coughs up rat bones." Hooty chimes in.
"I think it's 'cause she gets distracted by shiny objects," King added his two-cents.
"No, I don't." Eda denies.
Before Eda even finishes her retort, King takes out a pen from his hat. He clicks it, and the diamond on top of it begins to glow.
Eda is immediately entranced by the pen, her eyes dialating. "It sparkles and shimmers. It shines and delights. I must have it for my nest..." Eda says in a nearly Gollum-esque way, lunging for the pen, but King puts it behind his back and she crashes on the ground with a groan.
Flint just stared at Eda as she was face-first on the ground. "Woman, you've got issues." Flint deadpans.
Apparently, Eda's weird mannerisms didn't stop Luz from being Luz, as she disregarded what just happened and focused on one specific thing Eda had said. "You have a nest? I want a nest! Nest party!" Luz said excitedly as she helped Eda up.
"Ugh. That force field really took it out of me." Eda said tiredly.
"Uh-oh. Moving a little slow. Age finally catching up to ya?" King taunts.
Eda retorted by pulling the furry demon's hat further down his head and obscuring his vision.
"Ah! Darkness!" King screamed.
"This is perfect. Since we'll be stuck in the house all night, Eda won't have any excuse not to teach me a spell." Luz said excitedly as she followed Eda back inside the house.
King's eyes widened, having pulled the hat from his face. "But don't you wanna finish our lesson? I was gonna let you scratch a demon's tummy. Me!" King said with a hurt tone.
Flint scratched the back of his head. "Besides, Eda sounded a bit tired from that spell, it really must have done a number on her reserves. I'm pretty sure that'd work as an excuse." Flint pointed out.
"He's right!" Eda called in agreement in the background.
Luz wavered a bit at that, both at the hurt in King's voice and at Flint's statement. She'd seen plenty of times over the years whenever Flint hadn't gotten enough caffeine in his system, not to mention his usual tired look (thank whatever higher power there is that her friend hadn't had to deal with any of that since they arrived). She turned back apologetically.
"Sorry, King. But... magic." Luz said apologetically before continuing inside the house.
King is visibly frustrated, just as his horn pierces his hat, making it deflate.
Seeing King's expression, Flint sighs, ruffling his hat a bit. "Just be a little patient with her, okay? Learning magic is…pretty much her main reason for being here in the first place. Neither of us fit in back home, and now with me being able to use magic…I think she's feeling even more alone." Flint said sadly.
King huffed. "And what about you?" King asked grumpily.
Flint crouched down to about eye level with King. "Just about every question I've had answered has only made more show up in its place. I can't exactly get many answers while we're stuck in here anyway. If it makes you feel any better, we can get back to your lesson after Luz gets her fix of magic in, how about that?" Flint asked, reaching behind King's head and scratching a spot on his neck.
King tensed a bit at the scratches. "A little lower." Flint moves his hand a bit lower and King sighs with his body visibly relaxing. "That's better," King said in relief.
"Say, wanna hear something weird?" Flint asked King, grabbing the demon's curiosity. "There's a famous story in our world where an evil witch gets killed because water hit her."
King looked at him confused. "Was it boiling?"
Flint shook his head. "Nope. Just regular water."
"I can get why that's weird, but why are you telling me this?" King asked confused.
Flint shrugged. "The boiling rain just reminded me of it. The story is pretty popular and well-known too. I just think it's quite a coincidence that she melted from getting wet, and the rain here can kill you."
King stared off thinking about it. "Huh. That is weird."
Flint heard a thump and walked over to Eda on the ground with Luz smiling deviously over her.
"Teach me one spell, and I'll give you your sparkle thing." Luz bargained, waving the pen from just a bit ago tauntingly.
Eda glared at Luz. "I respect your cunning…but I also hate you for it." Eda admitted.
The two humans can now be seen sitting on the floor with Eda standing in front of them.
"If you want a witch's staff like mine, don't make me repeat myself." Eda leans forward drowsily before shaking her head to snap out of it. "Witch's staffs have power embedded into them."
"Gimme!" Luz said eagerly, holding her hands out.
Eda just gave her a flat look before continuing. "But before one is earned, every witch needs to know how to cast spells on their own, like Flint did." The owl on her staff comes to life as the rest of the staff disappears, leaving only the owl as it flaps its wings before flying over and landing on Flint's head.
Eda and Luz just stared at the owl atop the boy's head as Flint was understandably confused.
"Huh. Owlbert doesn't do that often." Eda said in mild surprise.
Flint raised a brow at that, attempting to glance upward at the bird on his head. "Your name is Owlbert?"
"Hey, I thought it was a great name, thank you very much!" Eda bit back.
"Palisman aside, tonight I will show you how to create...light," Eda said dramatically, drawing a circle with her finger in the air, which glows orange. White light sparks in the center, forming a large ball of light. It descends until it's in front of Luz's face before dispersing.
King spoke up from behind them. "Yawn! Who needs another boring spell lesson when you could be learning all the fun ways a demon could kill you?" King asks as he holds up a drawing of a demon with giant teeth. "Look how teethy. Bite, bite."
"Be quiet. I need to focus." Luz chastises before turning back to Eda. Flint and Owlbert watch as King lowers his head sadly.
"Now, humans think magic is made out of thin air, but that's stupid. Everything comes from something. Let me ask you, kid. Where do you think magic comes from?" Eda asked.
"Um, a sac attached to their heart?" Luz asked.
Eda blinked a bit at that, turning to Flint questioningly.
"I told her about it after my blockage was removed at Hexside," Flint explained.
Eda hummed in acknowledgment as she reached into her hair and pulled out the same diagram she'd used with Flint prior.
"That's right. It comes from a sac of magic bile attached to a witch's heart, and Flint's…for some reason." Eda stated.
Flint's face contorted. "Just as gross as last time."
"Can I keep that?" Luz asked.
"No," Eda says as she shoves the diagram back in her hair. "Now, everything depends on the spell circle. The bigger the circle, the more powerful the spell." Draws a large circle in the air.
The circle bursts out, creating a much bigger light than before, fading much faster than its predecessor.
"But how can I, little ol' Luz, do magic if I don't have one of those magic bile sacs?" Luz questioned.
Eda stared off ahead of her. "You know, I'm not actually sure." Eda said.
"What?" Luz said in shock.
"I know witches did magic differently in the past, but I never bothered to figure out how," Eda says with a snort.
"Eda!" Luz exclaimed in distress.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you and Flint here will figure it out." Eda reassured, ruffling her hair a bit. "Now, I need to lie down," Eda said as she stood taller and cracked her back.
"That's it? Wait! I need to see you do the circle thingy again. I'll record it on my phone this time." Luz pleaded, holding her phone up.
Flint sighed as he crossed his arms. "You shouldn't push her too much, Eda's clearly tired," Flint stated.
"Yeah. Besides, can't you just record Flint as he does one of his? Or just watch him?" Eda asked.
Luz raised a brow. "Do you really trust me with a spell to create fire?"
Eda turned to Flint to gauge his opinion, only to see him staring at the floorboards with a look that reminded her of Bump whenever she paid a 'visit' to Hexside. After a few more seconds, he snapped out of his trance and looked at Luz. "I'm not sure if the fact you're aware is less or more concerning."
Eda groaned. "Fine. One more spell shouldn't kill me or something."
Luz smiled as she began to record Eda.
"Smile! You're on camera!" Luz said excitedly.
"Now, you see, the...spell circle is really key because-" She draws a shaky circle before, disappearing before the spell can complete as she yawns. "Ooh, boy," Eda says as she falls face-first on the floor, knocked out.
"Welp, looks like one more spell killed Eda or something," King remarked after a beat of silence.
Luz yelped as Flint and Owlbert (who was still sitting on his head) sighed.
"Alright. I'll get her right side." Flint said as he got up.
Soon after, the Luz and Flint got their arms under Eda's and carried her up to her room as King followed behind, and Owlbert now perched on Flint's right shoulder. The two heaved her into…huh. Apparently, she didhave a nest…neat.
"Sorry for pushing you, Miss Eda. Please don't hurt me when you wake up." Luz said to the woman's sleeping form.
Flint stretched a bit. "Well, I think I might just hang in our room for a little bit and listen to some music, you guys can continue your demon lesson without me," Flint said before glancing at Owlbert on his shoulder. "You wanna go with them?" He asked.
Owlbert gave a hoot and shook his head.
"Eh, why not," Flint said, leaving the room with a short wave.
"Come on, let's go downstairs," Luz suggested to King as she left the room too to let Eda rest.
King ends up staying behind longer after the others leave, before going over and smacking Eda on the nose. "Bap!" He says, cackling as he runs off.
King is redrawing a demon with several mouths. When he finishes, he holds up his notepad in approval. All of a sudden he hears a groan come from Luz.
Luz was trying to draw a spell circle to do the light spell to no avail. "This is all either of them does. Why you gotta be so cryptic, Owl Lady?" Luz questions as she plays the video she recorded earlier.
A notepad is put over Luz's phone, blocking the video from view. "Hey, you know what's really cryptish? Let me tell you about the most spine-chilling demon." King said, lifting up his notepad to show a drawn fish-like demon. "Smoochy-pie the Sweetie Baby! He's...well, he's a lot more threatening than his name implies." King says unconvincingly.
"Not now, King. I want to figure out this spell. But if I don't have a magic sac, what's the point? I'll just be twirling my fingers around un-magically forever." Luz said. She sighed, sitting down and wrapping her arms around her legs. "Even Flint can do it, and he's only been able to use it for not even a week," Luz muttered as she rested her chin on her knees.
King looked at the ground thoughtfully thinking back to Flint's words earlier.
"Neither of us fit in back home, and now with me being able to use magic…I think she's feeling even more alone." Flint's words echoed in King's head. King sighed, knowing what he needed to do.
"If I help you learn that spell, could we finish our lesson?" King asked.
Luz immediately perked up as she put her phone away. "Oh, yes, yes. You can teach me about demons all week if you help me learn this spell." Luz answered.
"Well, she said witches used to do magic differently, so there has to be a way, right? King makes a small illustration on his notepad and shows it to Luz. "And I have a theory. Every day I notice Eda sneaking drinks of this special elixir, see? Then she always gets a boost of energy, see? I think that's where she gets her powers. And I know where to get some." King explained his plan.
"Really?" Luz asked excitedly
"Sí." King confirmed.
Luz pulls him into a hug and holds him up in the air after a short spin.
"Thank you so much. You're a prince." Luz thanked him.
King gave her a flat look. "King. I'm King."
"Right."
King had a feeling his correction didn't sway her enthusiasm at all.
Flint and Owlbert could be found in Flint and Luz's room just hanging out. After he'd closed the door, Flint lay on his sleeping bag, which was currently propped by a wall and acting as a cushion for him to listen to some of his music.
Owlbert had decided to move over to the boy's left shoulder, since Flint was continuing his drawing he'd been working on earlier, as the two listened to what might've been Flint's favorite song with one earbud in each of their ears.
Flint was currently singing under his breath along to the chorus "I'm gonna change you, like a remix. Then I'll raise you, like a-" [This song should seriously be talked about more. Sure they have other tracks that are super popular, but this song screams 'In the background of an epic fight.']
Suddenly the lights around them flickered out and put them into an unexpected darkness.
A scarlet spell circle pierced through the darkness before a small ball of fire, as big as a baseball, was suddenly hovering over Flint's left hand and illuminating his face as he was now standing.
Flint had a confused look on his face as he turned to the lights. "I would ask if Eda forgot to pay the electric bill or something, but I get the feeling she doesn't ever pay anything to begin with. That and I don't think you guys even have electricity in the same way." Flint remarked.
There was a faint crashing sound that got the two's attention.
"Hoot! Hoot! Hoot, oh, hoot!" Flint suddenly heard Hooty crying out from what sounded like pain (he still didn't know what to think of that thing).
Flint didn't move his head, only bringing his eyes to the left to look at Owlbert. "This isn't normal, is it?"
Owlbert shook his head with wide eyes.
Well…that was disconcerting.
'Wait. Doesn't that imply there's such a thing as being concerted?' Flint thought.
"Hoo." Owlbert said, regaining the boy's attention.
"You're right, we should check out what's going on." Flint agreed…hold on. "Okay…I can't actually understand you, but is that pretty much what you just said?"
Flint received a nod in response to that.
"Alright, let's go see which one of them's at fault," Flint said. He had no doubt this was somehow caused by Luz or King, maybe both.
As the two exited the room, they heard something howl from outside. Suddenly a crashing sound can be heard with glass breaking.
"That sounded like it came from Eda's room!" Flint exclaimed, running through the halls toward the source.
Reaching the door, Flint frantically knocks on the door. "Eda! Is everything o-"
A clawed hand broke through the door beside him. Flint and Owlbert's pupils shrank at the hand's arrival.
"-kaaayyyy…" Flint trailed off in fear before bolting down the hall toward the stairs with Owlbert clinging to his shoulder.
Flint reached the stairs and was about to go down them only to see Luz and King at the bottom, both of them with makeshift armor and weapons on. They had pillows wrapped around their torsos and Luz was holding a hockey stick in one hand and using her phone as a flashlight in the other.
Luz's eyes widened when she saw Flint at the top of the stairwell, shining the light at him. "Flint!"
Flint put out the fireball in his hand and held it in front of his face. "Luz! Flashlight!"
"Sorry!" Luz apologized, aiming the light lower to not shine directly in his eyes. "The Snaggleback is real! It knocked out Hooty!"
Another roar was heard and Flint turned back to see the Snaggleback running down the hall toward him. "Crap!" Flint turned back down the stairs. "I'm gonna try and lead it away! Go check on Eda!" Flint ordered before running in the direction of the beast.
"Flint!" Both Luz and King called out in distress as Flint ran. He had spots in his eyes from Luz's flashlight being shined in his face, but he could still see the silhouette of the creature through the dark.
The Snaggleback swiped horizontally with its claws at him, but Flint saw an opening and slid under the attack and the beast. Owlbert looked at the Snaggleback with realization in his eyes.
The Snaggleback fell forward from the failed attack and Flint came to a stop behind it, but not unscathed. His shorts rode up during the slide and chaffed his skin, causing him to wince in pain. Especially since it rode up on his…yeah.
"Ow. That looks so much cooler in the movies." Flint remarked in a strained voice.
Owlbert began hooting a bunch like he was trying to get Flint's attention. Flint was about to say something but then he heard the Snaggleback howl again as it recovered, charging at them.
Flint was faster though and managed to get to the corner, putting his arms out to push off the walls and make the sharp turn faster before diving into the open door of his and Luz's room before closing the door behind him. Flint and Owlbert stayed quiet as they heard the Snaggleback crash into the same corner with enough force that something in the humans' room fell to the floor, looking to be some kind of board game. After a few moments, they heard it passing by in a sprint.
Flint released the breath he'd been holding as Owlbert resumed his attempts to get the boy's attention. Flint stared at the bird for a few seconds taking a deep breath.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!" Flint whisper-yelled. What the heck was this guy's deal?!
Owlbert gave a grumpy look before turning to the overturned board game, which turned out to be Scrabble. He flew over and pecked at the letters strewn across the floor, moving them around to spell something.
Flint walked over and Owlbert stepped back to reveal he'd spelled a message out with the tiles. Seeing the message, Flint's shoulders slumped.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Flint said exasperated.
EDA. CURSE.
"Curse? Wait, what are you trying to say?" Luz asked. After finding Eda's nest empty, she and King had gotten separated a bit ago. They managed to reunite when Luz saved King from being snatched by the beast. King had managed to find the Snaggleback on his own, but it turned out that whatever this creature was, it wasn't the Snaggleback.
King had a look of realization on his face as he held a tag in his hand. "I was wrong the whole time. That's no Snaggleback. That creature is..."
The creature's howls could be heard as it stepped menacingly into the room. With her eyes finally adjusted to the lighting, Luz looked on with a horrified realization as it turned to look at them.
"Eda?" Luz questioned in shock.
Indeed, as it turned out, the creature chasing them was none other than the Owl Lady, Eda. Though given her current appearance, Luz was starting to think she might know why she has that title. Eda had transformed into a large, feather-covered beast with beady black eyes.
Beast Eda snarled as she began stalking closer to the two.
"Get away from them!"
Beast Eda turned slightly in the direction of the voice only for Flint to suddenly appear, jumping onto Eda and pushing her to the ground. Owlbert flew in behind him and turned into his staff form, with Flint spinning the staff before holding it partially behind his part at an angle in a battle-ready stance.
Flint swiveled his head to the two. "What are you waiting for?! RUN!" Flint screamed.
"It's not the Snaggleback! It's-"
"Eda. Yeah. I know. Now run!" Flint interrupted King as Beast Eda got back up, snarling at her attacker.
Not willing to argue, Luz grabbed King and ran with him out of the room and down the hall. Flint knew he couldn't take on this cursed form on his own, so he had to do what he could to stun her so he could regroup with the others.
Flint spun the Owlbert staff and a scarlet spell circle appeared. "I cast Fireball!"
A basketball-sized fireball shot at Beast Eda, the light from the flames disturbing her sensitive eyes as she recoiled from the blow. The fireball had been condensed when cast and he'd made sure the flame would be as cold as possible so it would just sputter out after striking her. Taking his opportunity, Flint ran out of the room and went down the hall, heading toward the balcony.
"Psst!"
Flint turned to the source and saw Luz peeking over the small wall separating the balcony from the herb room (Eda grew some of her ingredients in there…he didn't know why he even bothered calling Eda "Heisenberg" though. Of course she didn't get it). He quickly dove over the ledge before backing up against the wall, attempting to slow his breathing.
"This is singlehandedly the craziest thing I've ever done!" Flint whisper-yelled from King's left.
Oh, trust me kid, you ain't seen nothing yet.
Soon enough, Beast Eda arrived at the room, stalking around as she sniffed the room, trying to locate the scent of the prey that dared to fight back.
Luz has one hand over her mouth and puts the other over Flint's, reaching over King's head as he puts his hands on his head. Beast Eda seemed to smell them, locking onto their scent and growling as they could tell she was getting closer to them. Luz removes the hand from her mouth and picks up a nearby can, throwing it a distance away. Beast Eda growls, running after the sudden sound and away from them. They were safe, for now.
"Oh, man. Did you see her eyes? They were like 'RAH!' What happened to her?" Luz said, holding herself as Owlbert reverted from his staff form and perched on Flint's shoulder again.
King was holding himself too. "Don't you see? The elixir I gave you doesn't give Eda powers, it prevents her from turning into that thing. She's turned into a nightmare and it's all my fault. I'm so sorry, Luz. I-I just wanted you to be into demons like you're into magic. I don't have many friends, and no one even pays that much attention to me. I thought maybe if I taught you, finally someone would care about creatures like me." King explained as he put his head in his hands.
King's words stung Flint when he heard them, he knew the feeling all too well. Soon enough, he pulled King in for another hug like earlier. King couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge the action in his current state.
"Well...let's finish the lesson," Luz suggested, holding out the pen.
King looked over at Luz in confusion "Huh?"
"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?" Luz asked.
"Come on teach, show us what you know." Flint encouraged, still holding him but not as tightly as before. Owlbert also nodded from Flint's shoulder.
King brightened at the group's encouragement, giggling as Luz joined in on the hug. Moments later they separate and King smacks some leaves onto the floor.
King began by drawing Eda's face on one of the leaves. "Let's see. She was bigger, covered in feathers, and had giant black eyes. Demons with black eyes are usually sensitive to light."
Flint cupped his chin and nodded. "I was briefly able to see Eda's irises when I shot a fireball at her, so they must be dilated and built for night vision. If we blind her with a sudden flash of light, it'll overload her vision, like when Luz shined her phone's light on me but way worse."
King took in Flint's information with a nod before turning to Luz. "Then we use your phone."
Luz pulled out her phone and went to try and turn her flashlight on, but it wasn't working. Her screen was undamaged, but there were cracks over the lens on the back. Luz clicked her tongue. "Shoot! I must've landed on it wrong and busted the camera."
King turned to Flint. "What about yours?"
Flint went to reach into his pocket for his phone, only for his eyes to widen as he suddenly seemed to find his surroundings much more interesting.
Luz, King, and Owlbert all proceeded to stare at him with a deadpan expression.
"You lost it, didn't you," Luz stated, it wasn't a question because she could already see the truth.
"That implies I don't know where it is. Which I do." Flint defended.
Luz raised a brow. "Really? Then where is it?"
Flint blushed sheepishly. "Somewhere back in our room," Flint said softly, poking the ends of his fingers together.
"Then... what about that light spell?" King asked the two of them, looking to Flint first though.
"I tried earlier, but couldn't get anything. I think I was only able to manage fire because it was instinctual. Every light spell I tried to cast just fizzled." Flint explained. He was still trying to figure out magic and could barely even do more than make a baseball of fire, without Owlbert's help earlier that is.
Luz sighs. "And you saw me. I can't draw circles in the air. I'm not like Eda, or even like you Flint. I'm…not special like you." Luz said depressingly.
Yet again it pained Flint to see his best friend so sad. This was exactly what he'd been afraid of earlier with her. Unfortunately, he couldn't even manage enough with his fire to do much other than annoy Beast Eda.
'Damn it. What can we do?' Flint thought before his eyes locked onto Luz's phone.
"Hey, maybe there's something we're missing. What about your video of Eda from earlier?" Flint suggested.
Luz's look of hopelessness didn't leave her, contrary to what Flint was hoping, as she began to play the video.
The three watched the entire video but found nothing useful. There just wasn't anything different.
Luz sighed again, softly putting her head against the wall behind her. "It's hopeless. We're going to die here, and neither of our moms is ever going to know what happened to us." Luz said, her hope being decimated.
Flint's brow furrowed. No. This would not be the end for them. He knew it deep down. He took Luz's phone in his hands and replayed the video.
"Come on. There's gotta be something you can tell us. Tell us how we can get Eda back." Flint practically demanded, his gaze firmly planted on the video.
Luz played the video again for them to nothing different. At least, not at first. The moment Eda finishes the shaky circle, a symbol appears within the circle…a very familiar symbol.
Luz blinked in confusion. "Wait…" Luz said, pausing the video and locking the symbol in place on the screen.
Luz's confusion grabbed Flint's attention, as he turned to her. "Are you seeing this too?" He asked, getting a nod in response.
King looked at the video in confusion, not seeing anything different about the video from before. "What are you guys talking about?" King asked. Owlbert tilted his head in confusion as he didn't see anything other than a simple circle.
This surprised both humans as they turned to him. "Wait, you can't see it?" Flint asked, with King and Owlbert shaking their heads in response.
Luz grabs a nearby leaf and the pen. "It's something Flint drew when we first met, it looks like this." Luz draws the pattern perfectly, having learned how from seeing it in Flint's sketchbook so many times whenever he left it unattended and she would flip through the pages.
"There," Luz says, finishing the pattern and tapping it with the tip of the pen. The drawing on the leaf begins glowing. Both humans gasp as the leaf suddenly folds into itself, brightening until it's a small floating ball of yellow light. Luz gently cups it in her hands, bringing it to eye level.
Luz stares at it mesmerized. "It's beautiful." She said.
Flint looked at her with the ball of light floating in her hands, it illuminated her face and showed her downcast look had been replaced with one of sheer wonder as she stared into the light. Seeing her returning to her usual self brought a fond smile to Flint's face.
"Yeah…you really are," Flint said quietly under his breath.
None of them had heard him say it, even Flint didn't recognize the slip.
"Oh, my gosh. I just did magic." Luz said, standing up triumphantly as King hung from her arm. "I just did magic! I just did magic!" She exclaimed excitedly.
"Shh! We're not going to stop anything with something that small." King chastised, hopping back to the ground.
The group suddenly hears Beast Eda screeching in the distance, making them all take cover again, with Luz pulling the orb down behind the cover too.
"What do we do now?" King questioned.
Flint turned to King. "You said you found that elixir in Eda's room right?" Flint asked, his answer being a nod.
"Simple. We set a trap." Flint said with a grin.
Beast Eda was sniffing around the living room. Her prey was somewhere, but she lost track of her targets. She ran around a bit before pouncing onto the treasure chest next to the fallen door. Suddenly a clicking sound distracts her and she turns to see King holding the pen.
"Oh, what lovely thing do we have here? It's just so dang shiny. Oh, my. Oh, dear." King taunted, as the pen glowed in the dark.
The light mesmerized Beast Eda, it was shiny, it was her precious and must become her's!
Beast Eda screeched and lunged for it, only to miss when King ran into the hallway behind him. Beast Eda chases the little demon as he ducks into another hallway. Beast Eda attempts to pursue, but slid on a pile of books and papers scattered at the intersection, causing her to crash into a wall. As she attempts to pull herself off the ground, she looks up and gasps when Luz tosses a blanket over her head from atop a stepladder, with something drawing on the wall behind her.
"I'm sorry, Eda. But it's for your own good!" Luz declared with a crayon in-hand, moving it in an arc across the wall behind her and finishing the final touches of the glyph from earlier. A giant one that covered most of the wall.
Luz pulled her arm back before slapping it. The glyph began to glow until the light spread across the entire room, and the force created by the sheer power of the spell caused Luz's hair and Beast Eda's feathers to blow around a bit.
Beast Eda screamed in pain as Flint rounded a corner behind her with a pair of sunglasses on, shielding his eyes with his right arm, and holding something in his left. He stood stunned by the light, he could feel the power this spell radiated with. It was astounding!
Flint shook himself from the awe as he ran forward. He swooped in from Beast Eda's side and pushed her to the ground, onto her back. Too overloaded by the light, Beast Eda could not resist and fell back. She attempted to scream, but something was shoved into her mouth and her chin was being forced closed around it and a liquid was forced down her throat. The last the beast could remember before falling unconscious was the horrendous taste.
Sometime later, Eda awoke in her nest abruptly, a sharp pain beating her brain like a drum as she began to nurse the searing pain.
"Ugh. W-What happened? Oh, I have the worst headache. And my mouth tastes like roadkill." Eda gagged before hurling out a giant owl pellet.
Flint watched on in disgust. 'How did she even hack that up? That thing is like, at least 10 times wider than her neck!'
The pellet breaks, revealing a pink chimp-like creature. It was apparently the Snaggleback that King encountered earlier.
"I'm just gonna... lie here for a minute," Snaggleback said, a look of broken horror etched on his face.
Eda looked down and saw a glass bottle with a few drops of elixir still in it and grabbed it. "Hmm? I was looking for that."
King walked over with Owlbert perched on his head. "Actually, Owlbert told us about an extra one in your closet, and Flint went to get it."
Eda turned to him in surprise, before shifting into anger. "King? King! You stole my elixir? I ought to break every bone in your-"
King shushed her before turning around and pointing nearby. "Shh! Over there." King whispered.
Eda looked in the direction King pointed and was shocked. Luz was surrounded by small balls of light. She drew out another glyph before activating it, grinning as the paper crumpled inward and became another ball of light, floating up as it joined the others.
Eda was left flabbergasted. "Wow. How is she doing that? And isn't that…" Eda trailed off.
"One of my symbols?"
Eda turned to the voice as Flint made his presence known, as Eda was shocked to see small pillars of ice and some vines sprouting from sheets of paper. In his hand was a different symbol, it almost reminded her of a candle. He tapped the page onto one of the ice pillars and it suddenly burst into flame as the ice melted.
"I don't know, but she did it all herself," King answered, before turning to Eda sheepishly. "Hey, I, uh, kind of messed a bunch of things up back there. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry." King apologized.
"Well, you better be. I got a long list of disgusting chores with your name on it...but it's not entirely your fault." Eda relented with a sigh as Luz and Flint came over. "I haven't been completely honest with you guys. When I was younger-
"You were cursed," Flint stated bluntly. Eda looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Owlbert told me what he could, but the words 'EDA. CURSE,' can only explain so much, but it says a lot."
"Yes, I was cursed. I don't know exactly how it happened, all I know is that if I don't take my elixir... I think you know why people call me the Owl Lady now. No one likes having a curse, but if you take the right steps, it's manageable." Eda continued. Flint saw the hint of sadness in her tone though. Just what had she endured because of this curse anyway?
"Whoa. So are you okay?" Luz asked worriedly
Eda waved off her concern. "There's nothing for you to worry about. It's all under control, and as long as no one steals my elixir-" Eda made sure to pause and send a glare at King "-then I'm fine. But, hey, look at this. A 100% human doing magic. Good on you, kid."
"I had some encouragement from a great teacher," Luz said with a smile, looking at King.
"Oh, you," King responded bashfully.
Suddenly, they all heard the most horrific creature they'd ever met as its imbecilic cries echoed through the house.
"Hey, hey! Is anyone there? Hello? Hoot? I'm on the floor. It's cold!"
King groaned as he walked forward in anger. "That voice. That horrific voice!"
"We'll take care of him. You stay in bed." Luz said, picking up Snaggleback. "Come on, you goopy fella. We'll set you free now."
"Ow, ow, ow. I think my tail was digested." Snaggleback said in pain.
Eda watched them leave, seeing Flint stop at the doorframe.
"These glyphs are a lead," Flint stated.
Eda looked toward him firmly. "To a dead end maybe. I've never seen anything like it."
Flint looked downward toward the ground in thought. "Something tells me there's a lot more to this than we can imagine."
"We can talk about it more later," Eda said as he left the room to join the others.
Just a bit down the hall, Flint stared at a copy of the light pattern on the paper in his hand. He tapped it and it activated, leaving the ball of light hovering above his hand. He frowned at it as he stared, before continuing through the hall.