Within the Owl House, a celebration was happening. Lilith had recently managed to be hired as the new assistant curator of the Supernatural Museum of History, and Hooty had managed to arrange a party for his friend. It was still a bit baffling how much those two had become friends after who knows how many times Hooty personally beat Lilith and the coven scouts into the ground.
Among the people in attendance who didn't actively live within the house were the likes of Gwendolyn, Morton, Tinella Nosa, Steve, and a new person. Her name was Flora D'splora, a historian and Lilith's former mentor in the Emperor's Coven. Lilith had actually been rather surprised that her mentor had arrived, not expecting her to hear about it. Unfortunately, it turned out that part of her reason for showing up was because Belos wanted to make sure she kept out of trouble, as well as give Lilith the things she'd left behind. Other than that, she at least didn't seem like a bad person or anything like that. She even still had a palisman, shockingly enough, that took on the form of a whip on her waist.
Flora had intended to leave sooner, but actually stayed a bit longer when Flint had come up to her to ask if she'd even seen a demon with traits similar to his. Flint's query had actually left the woman stumped, having encountered demons and the like with similar traits individually but not in the combination that Flint portrayed. [I forgot to mention this, but the fire glyphs in Flint's eyes faded after he was knocked out. They've now returned to a standard black.]
In any case, Flora pulled out her monkey palisman whip to catch a flying griffin out of the sky and leaped onto its back before flying away on her newly-tamed steed, as the trio of Lilith, Luz, and Flint stood near to bear witness.
"…you saw that her palisman was a monkey, right?" Flint asked Luz suddenly as they both continued to stare in the direction the woman left.
"The theme song is already playing in my head," Luz responded simply.
"Is it circus music? Because that might as well be the theme of my life!" Lilith yelled, pulling at her hair in frustration as she paced. "The only fun I ever got to do was at a damned desk! All the while she got to go on all sorts of badass adventures! I'll show her! I'll make an exhibit so great, that the Titan itself will rise from the dead to congratulate me!" Lilith ranted before storming off into the house.
Luz and Flint stared at the entrance for a moment, processing the woman's breakdown.
"…she's been surprisingly vulgar lately," Luz noted.
"It's probably my fault," Flint said.
"Oh, 100%," Luz stated bluntly. "You even managed to corrupt Gus."
"I'm honestly surprised Willow's lasted this long. Then again, I'm pretty sure she ends up with all the brain cells when we hang out." Flint admitted. Luz couldn't deny that.
The party eventually came to an end and all the guests headed out. Steve was one of the first to go after Flora. He'd apparently been one of Lilith's only friends when she was among the Emperor's Coven and today was also his one day off (barring extreme sicknesses) in the year. Steve had also requested Flint remove his sigil, having heard about it through the grapevine, and Flint gave him one of the papers he'd been handing out after doing so.
Apparently, the reason he needed to head out was that he was preparing for a date later with another scout. Good for him.
Eda, King, and Flint (with Gray perched on his shoulder) were cleaning up the living room from the party as Disney played another entry from Philip's journal. Luz was lying on the couch and looking up at the projection with Stringbean sitting on her chest, looking up with a curious head tilt.
"After careful analysis during this Deadwardian Era, I believe the current human year is 1660. Or is it '70? The years are flashing by, but it will all be worth it. I've gathered all the portal ingredients, including Titan's Blood. All that's left is to seek out the Collector, and he will tell me what I need to complete my mission. But first, my companions and I must face-" The playback cuts off as Disney shakes his head before going to sleep beside Luz on the couch.
"'The Collector'? I've never heard that name." King said. At hearing the name, Flint felt an odd wave of...remorse.
"Me neither. What kind of jerk puts 'The' in front of their name anyway?" Eda says, rolling her eyes as she picks up some trash and puts it in a bag. "And why are you even still going through those entries anyway? Don't you already have everything you need from them since the door was made?" Eda asked confused.
"We do, but we decided to recover as much of the book as possible. It's always been a big mystery in Gravesfield about what happened to the Wittebane brothers. This is our only source of information to learn what happened after they disappeared." Luz answered before frowning. "Although…strangely we haven't seen any mention of his brother Caleb. I wonder what happened to him." Luz said thoughtfully.
Flint nodded, as he had said journal hovering in the air nearby. "Of course, trying to recover the pages using my magic is extremely complex. And-"
"̶̖̼̪͕̫̳͛̈́̀̋ͅE̥̊v̨͎̤̱͙̰̟̯̇̓͘e̶̢͉̦̽͗̉l̵̢̢̰͕̹̟̩͖̇̄̄̿y̷̨̨̰͈̣̪̳̗̮̔n̴̳̥̏̏̏̌̽̓͋͝,̴̨̙̥͖̘̙̎̑͛́̿̊̅̒ ̉͜r̷͖̱͈̆̀͂̒́͆̕͜ȗ̴͙̌ň̴̯̬̖̱͚̥̫̤̅́͂̍͝͝!̢̛̀̚͠"̷̧̖͈̫̭͙̈́́͜͜
Flint blinked a few times, shaking his head before frowning.
"Another one?" Eda asked.
Flint nodded. "Yeah. It's driving me crazy, and why I can't focus long enough to restore pages Disney hasn't played." These strange...he wouldn't necessarily call them 'visions' per se. They were more like...echoes. He's been experiencing them every so often since arriving, but they had been ramping up exponentially. He could never understand what was being said, but he could always understand the emotion behind them. He felt like it was being held just a hair out of his grasp, as close as he could get without grasping it. It bothered the hybrid.
"I wonder what Philip was like anyway. I mean, a lot has changed on Earth in four hundred years. It would be awesome if we could somehow go back in time and talk to him." Luz sighed.
A moment later, both Luz and Flint's eyes widened in realization as they turned to Eda, with Stringbean wiggling in the air and sitting on Luz's head now.
"Wait…is there such a thing as time magic?" Luz asked.
Eda snorted. "Of course. Your boyfriend uses it on that book."
Flint gave her a flat look. "Okay, technically it is, but restoration magic is just reverting an object to a previous state. We're talking wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey shenanigans a la The Doctor."
"Again about the whole 'The' thing," Eda said flatly before scratching her chin in thought. "Although…"
Eda walks over to a nearby shelf and skims the books before plucking one out. The book was titled 'History's Top 10 Plot Holes' and opened it. "Back in the day-" Eda halted for a moment and shuddered. "I can't believe I just said that," Eda said in a haunted tone as she realized what she'd just said.
Eda shook herself back to attention. "Anyway, I was a bit of an urban-legend junkie. Twig Foot, Lenderman, possums-"
"Those are real." Flint interrupted.
Eda snorted. "Uh-huh. Yeah, sure." Eda said disbelievingly.
"I have literally fought one before," Flint said bluntly.
Eda and King turned to Luz questioningly.
"Saw one on the side of the road and it lived up to the phrase. Flint punted it into a tree." Luz said simply.
"…You know what? Why not?" Eda honestly wasn't shocked at this point. Nothing could shock her more than Flint's blood test results.
"Anyway, there are stories about these things called timepools. Mythical puddles that act as windows into the past, but they're never in the same spot twice. Me and Lily used to search for them. She'd say I forced her into it, but I think she had more fun than me." Eda chuckled as she showed them the page on timepools, which had a depiction of a loop going through them.
"Hm. So we're working with a John Connor rather than a Marty McFly or Future Trunks." Flint said thoughtfully as he read the page.
"Oh hey, I actually understood those ones," Eda said with a smile. "But I'd suggest talking to Lily about it if you wanna go on a wild possum chase. Maybe it'll keep her from trying to make some stupid ultra-nerd exhibit on balusters or something." Eda waved them off, handing Luz the book before continuing to clean the room.
Luz and Flint looked at each other, sharing a look as each raised a disbelieving brow.
Lilith could be seen in the kitchen carefully painting…
SMACK
Lilith jumped at the sudden noise, dropping part of her model baluster and turning to the source. With a hand hovering over her chest, she calmed her heart rate.
"Ah! Luz! Flint! I didn't hear you come in." Lilith said. She was met with the sight of Gray looking at the woman flatly, both teens facepalming, and Stringbean just tilting her head curiously. Bless that innocent little snake-shifter's soul.
"…So I take it planning an exhibit on Deadwardian balusters is a bit much?" Lilith asked.
"Listen to Stolas and I, you did not." Tart chuckled. [That's right. I'm making it so that Lilith's palisman talks like Yoda in this. Senile Dagobah Yoda specifically.]
"Hehe. Tart talk funny." Stringbean giggled.
"While balusters may not be the play, I think we have a little something with a lot of potential, Cool Aunt Lilith," Luz said as she handed Lilith the book.
Lilith took the book and looked at the page, her eyes lighting up. "Ooh! The timepools! I remember these. Back in the Premysteric Era, some theorized that coagulated Titan Blood mixed with the magical algae of the Boiling Sea created these rifts that bridged time periods. Time would flow parallel across the connected periods. Say that you entered a timepool then traveled back after exactly a year, and you would have been gone from the present for a year too." Lilith's eyes glimmered with ideas. "Oh, there are so many possibilities with these! I could create exhibits using memories of being there in-person, and-"
Lilith stopped suddenly as she realized something, turning to Luz curiously. "'Cool Aunt'?"
Luz shrugged. "You're a lot cooler not working for a tyrannical government. Your harpy form was fierce girl! Rawr!" Luz said, punctuating her statement with a play roar.
"I'm still not big on the name, but then again, you're far more of a mother to our girlfriend than that cu-" Flint was smacked in the side of the face by Gray's wing. "-than that bitch." Flint corrected without a second beat.
"…Fair enough." Lilith accepted. "Also I totally wouldn't have stopped you from saying it, just for the record. That would've been the nicest way I could've possibly said it." Lilith took a breath as she got things back on track. "As for the timepools, I believe the device Eda and I developed should be among the items Flora returned to me." Lilith sighed. "Sadly, we could never get it to work properly, or at least not long enough to be usable. It required far more power than either of us could give it."
Luz and Lilith cupped their chins for a moment before an idea struck them. They slowly swiveled their heads toward Flint, who now looked between them with trepidation.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Flint asked, though already had a sneaking suspicion of what they were thinking.
"Thith ith humiliathing," Flint stated lowly as he walked alongside Lilith and Luz.
"This is for historical accuracy!" Lilith declared gleefully with her timepool tracker in hand, staring excitedly at the screen as a long cord suspended in the air to her right.
"An why coulnth I juth give you thome ofh my blou again?" Flint asked, revealing to have the other end of the cord held in his mouth.
"Because it's funnier this way." Luz giggled from Lilith's left, Stringbean wrapped around her neck and looking more like a scarf. Luz had already taken a picture of Flint's grumpy expression on her phone.
It was the next day now, as the group had traveled overnight in search of their time-warping quarry. Due to Flint's overall power, he was working as the main battery, powering it by channeling energy into the cord. Why he even decided to play along with the idea is the real question.
Flint huffed. "Ith it almoth fully charged yet?"
"Oh, it's been full charge for the past fifteen minutes," Lilith stated.
Flint growled as he removed the cord from his mouth. "I hate you."
"27," Lilith responded, causing both teens to look at her strangely. "I've been keeping track of how many times you've said that to me." Lilith supplied.
"So are we getting close? We've been at this for a while now." Luz asked groggily.
"I would hope so because I'm sensing some potent magic up ahead," Flint revealed.
That woke Luz up to full attention and made him gain the others'. Luz and Lilith ran past him excitedly. Lilith pushed aside some brush to find a beach. There wasn't anything all that special about it, though.
Both women frowned, though Lilith's was larger. "I don't get it. From all the calculations, a-and Flint's magic sense, where-oh!" Lilith began, only to trip on something and almost fall down. After recovering, she growls at the spot and kicks the empty sand. "Stupid rock!" Lilith cleared her throat before looking forward again. "Where are they?!" Lilith yelled, continuing her previous statement before being oh-so rudely interrupted by tripping over something stupid.
Luz scratched her head. "Could they be under the water? Because if they are, that's not gonna be fun checking where they lead." Luz suggested.
Flint finally caught up, reaching the edge of the beach before blinking in surprise. "Huh, well I'll be damned. Good job Lilith." Flint said happily.
The girls (and Tart) looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about? There's nothing here!" Lilith voiced her frustration.
"Wait, you can't see them?" Flint asked in confusion.
Lilith and Luz looked at each other in equal surprise before turning back to Flint. "Wait, then where are they?" Luz asked.
Flint gestured to the sand. "They're like, all over the beach. Wait. Hang on." Flint's eyes sheened a bit before a look of realization was donned on his face. "Ohhhhh. That makes a whole lot more sense now. I can see the magic radiating from them, but the portals are invisible. You'd never see them without special equipment or magic vision," Flint said.
"What exactly do they look like to you?" Lilith asked.
Flint scrunched his face in thought as he looked at the beach, seeing the various timepools before them. "They're like...puddles of ink. I can't see through them, but each of them glows. Some are glowing a lot brighter than the others though." Flint noted.
Lilith cupped her chin. "Perhaps the intensity of the glow you see correlates with the distance through time it connects to."
Luz's face lit up as she got an idea. "Wellllll there's only one way to know for sure, right? So, where's the closest one to me?" Luz asked.
Flint's pupils shimmered scarlet shortly, before reverting to normal. "About three feet from your seven. It's glowing very bright too," Flint informed.
Luz turned and walked over to the spot, looking over to Flint to see him nod before kneeling into the sand and shoving her head in, the sand rippling as her head disappeared and leaving her like an ostrich with its head in the ground.
On the other side of the rift, Luz and Stringbean found themselves in a prehistoric era. The skies were clouded with smog, volcanoes bellowing smoke into the skies, and a large dinosaur-like beast stomped in the distance. Both palisman and carver looked on in awe.
"This is so cool!" Luz whisper-squealed with Stringbean nodding fervently in agreement.
"Super duper cool!" Stringbean agreed excitedly.
Luz looks over and is about to reach for a nearby ammonite, but then she suddenly jolts, her face burning with an Amity-level blush as Stringbean looks at her in confusion.
"What's wrong Mama?" Stringbean asked.
"Oh, that little-!" Luz cut herself off by pulling herself and Stringbean back to the present. Luz brings her hands to rub her posterior before looking around and locking onto Flint, noticing the trail in the sand and him looking off 'innocently' into the distance next to Lilith, who was pinching the bridge of her nose. "Did you just smack my butt?!" Luz cried out indignantly.
"What makes you think I did it?" Flint counter-asked. This caused all three Lilith, Gray, and Tart to facepalm.
Luz squinted at him. "So you admit it was done?"
Flint seemed to realize his mistake and began sweating nervously. Gray quickly fled for the safety of Lilith's other shoulder, and Flint frantically waved his arms in front of himself. "N-n-now Starlight! C-can you blame me when you presented such a ripe target- I should stop talking now." Flint's tone shifted as he realized the new mistake he had just made, only just as Luz tackled him to the ground.
As Luz did her best to try and get payback, Lilith simply sighed at the two rustling around on the beach near her, Luz trying to strangle the boy through her furious embarrassment. "Teenagers." Lilith groaned, only now realizing the plight of traveling with two teenagers in a relationship. She also now had Stringbean perched in her hair, the snake-shifter tilting her head in confusion.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Stringbean asked innocently.
"We'll tell you when you're older/Learn when you are older, you will." Both palismen responded.
Transition brought to you by Flint grinning deviously, winding up his arm with Luz's rear in front of him, and slapping it as Lilith looks on exasperated.
Lilith pulls her head out of the ground with various stakes sticking out of the ground. Tart flew over and dropped a stake held in his claws into her hand before perching on her shoulder.
"Astounding! It would seem that the brighter the rift glows in Flint's vision, the further in time the portal leads. That creature was a stonesleeper from the Hecktaceous Period." Lilith deduced before turning to the two. "Did you know that they have a ticklish spot behind their ears?"
"Huh. Neat." Luz hummed with Gray perched on her left shoulder.
"Can I be let out now?" Flint asked, revealing to be tied up by Stringbean, who had shifted into a three-foot-long snake and was wrapped around Flint. He also sported a red mark on the left side of his face that was suspiciously the same size and shape as Luz's hand.
Luz snapped her fingers and Stringbean returned to normal, giggling a bit in Flint's face before perching on Luz's right shoulder, as Gray flew over and did the same on his own carver's shoulder.
"We told you that was a bad idea," Gray remarked.
"And I told you that it was too good an opportunity." Flint countered.
Lilith finished writing something down in a notebook she had pulled out from…somewhere. [Oh no…it spread to another super-nerd!]
"It makes sense now that these have never been found. They're completely invisible to the naked eye, just as Flint said." Lilith stated. "Flint, where is the next one closest to me?" Lilith asked.
Flint's eyes gleamed and he squinted. "It's…about two feet in front of you. It's really hard to see though." Flint noted.
Lilith hummed before poking her head into the timepool…only to pull back out with a wince and stare at the spot with a hollow look. "Huh…I'm the stupid rock."
"I agree. Also, that pool is gone now, just thought I'd let you know." Flint stated, receiving a grumbled-out thanks from the woman.
Luz clapped her hands together excitedly. "Alright, what's next?" Luz asked.
Flint scanned the beach looking for the next-
"̶̭̬̺̊̐͠ͅC̵͖̈́̊a̶̿̆̀̈́̓̈́ͅl̷̛͇̿e̷̢̛͉̬̫̐̈́b̵̍͋̑̉͠ͅ!̵̺͔͖̣̲͒̈́̊̿̈"̵̢̜̪̖́ͅ
̶̝͍̟̻͒̃̓̾̈́"̵̧͔̤̲̙͚̝͛̿͛̋̈́̈́̀͝L̵̺̪̩̘̅́͌͐̑ò̶̪͌̍͛͗̂̚͠o̶̢̬̖̯̰̭̎̚ḱ̴̩̻̩̳͔̪ ̵̤̝͌͋̒̒̐̑̌͐͊w̷̡̛̯̝̯̤͉̌͘h̷͎̟̜͂͜ą̝̞̭̠̮̖̺̊̓̽͐̕t̷̻̗̰̖̽̂̈́͐̃͜ ̶̻͈͔́͑y̶̮̘͚͔͚̬͚̼̰͋̿͊͊̓͌o̵͖͕̖͊̍͊͆͒͘͠ú̴͙͍͎̺̱̻̲͉́̒̕ͅ ̵̨͉̣͇̦̙͙͉͐̊ͅḿ̶̜̰͚̘̇͑̚ă̵͉̗̣̓̐̾̅̓̅d̝̬̦̰e̵̛̬̫̩̰̭̦̽ ̵̣̥̝̆̍̿͆̔̅͘̕m̶̧̻͓̜͙̣̏̐ẹ̻̬̆̍̽͌̚͜͠ ͍͕̥̭͎̬̰͔̋̈́d̷̨̮̦͍̤̞͙͚̿̎͊ǒ̵͇͉̗̟̍̉̀̅̆̚ͅ!̵͕͗̌̾̋̅"̶̞̟͝
Flint shook his head and frowned. Recollecting himself, he scanned the area again and saw another timepool. This one was different though. It wasn't glowing super bright, but it felt…more. He felt drawn to it. Silently, he walked over to it and stared into the inky puddle, seeing a wrapped version of his own reflection.
"Flint?"
Flint snapped out of his trance to see everyone looking at him worriedly.
"I'm…fine," Flint said, unsure of how convincing it sounded. "This is the one that will take us to the Deadwardian Era. When Philip Wittebane was around. I deduce sometime after obtaining the Titan's Blood." Flint said.
"How do you know?" Lilith asked.
"I…just do," Flint said with confusion and uncertainty.
Luz looked at him worriedly for a moment as she walked over to a skeleton nearby with a medieval helmet. After disinfecting it with a quick spell from the now-staff Stringbean, she put it on. Luckily, the helmet managed to reach down enough to cover her ears.
"Alright. It's time to talk to a guy older than the Declaration of Independence." Luz declared.
"I don't know what that is. In any case, this will be a truly unprecedented exploration. Before we dive in though, we must remember if the tide comes in, we could be trapped, paradoxes will be a danger, and don't get me started on the bloodyfly effect." Lilith informed, adjusting her glasses.
"That won't be a problem, Lilith. We'll go in, learn about the bastard and the era, and get out before that can be a problem." Flint stated.
"Okay, seriously, you've never even met the guy. I don't understand why you have this weird personal vendetta against him." Luz said with a frown.
Flint groaned. "I told you before, something about the thought of him just-"
"̷̱͆T̴̫͆h̴̭͑̆ȁ̵͍̘̦̃t̩ͅ ̵̡͠wi̵̹̋t̴̳͚̦̊̔͐c̶̫͓͒̌̑ḣ̩̮̻́ ̷̩͈͈͘t̵͈̮̊̚u̴̢̩̻̓r̵̺̔̆n̷̹̮̞̔͠͝e̵̯͒d̶̢̂̏͘ͅ ̯y̷̫̲̥͝oͅu̴̱̼͌̐͝ ̷͔̣͂â̵̟̯̎̒ǵ͙̉a̵̗͋̐ī̵͖n̶̬̑͘s̷͊̐̊ͅṭ̴̱̓͠ ̶̢̨͆̏ṁ̴̘̫e̴̝̻͖͆̌.̶̣̱̇̕ ̶͇̑̿͑D̵͔̙͍̓̐o̴̦͊ͅ ̭̓n̴̨̘̈́̀ö̙̮̏t̜̘ ̶̙̣̈́̄͘w̷̲̺̏̐̔o̶̲̪̒ŗ̴̬̅̇̋r̶̟̬͈͒ỳ̷̺͈,̢̡̙̆ ̴̘̿b̶͖̺̋r̵̜̜̮̔̂o̴̻̅̆t̵̥̆͗h̴̝̮̃̀̈́ẹ̶̢̏̅̂r͍͇̈,̶̼͎̄ ̷̬͙̠̄̅͋f̴͕̞͐̕ô̷͓͙̲͂͘ř̶̪̗͖̉͗ ̶̻̽͒͒I̴̲̱͊͝ ̶̦͎̄͘w̶̄͗͜ï̷̢̺̦̏͒l̷͇̹͒̑̚ḽ̴͍͊͊̐ ̴̣̜̲̊̾d̶̯̏̒e̶̹̗̐s̷̝̺̠̓͂ț̵̓̏r̷͍͊͘ǒ͕͖̈y̶̠̑̊͝ ̶̖̜͕̀͠t̶̢͍̆̾ĥ̶͍̌ḙ̵̛͜m̶͍̗̐͗̊ ̴̩̐̏a̵̝̭͊l̵͙̝̀l̷̛̦̐̔ ̶̳̋͛͗ạ̶̏s̵̛͕̳̾̉ ̵̝͈͊̓̚G̶̛̜̥̗ő̯d̷̢̝̿̈́̌ ̶̠͆i̴̧̜͐̏n̴̘̙͆ͅṭ̶̛̖͑ë̴̼͎̼́ṇ̶͓̤̒̊͘d͓̞́ę̶̲̘̇̾͊d̷̺̬͊̃̾!̶̳͛"̵͎̹̤̒̽
"…angers me." Flint finished his statement.
Luz sighed. "Alright then," Luz said before turning to Lilith. "So, Cool Aunt Lilith, what are you gonna do for your disguise?"
Lilith chuckled a bit, closing her eyes as she plucked her glasses off and pocketed them. When she opened her eyes again, her sclerae had turned black, and her irises were glowing mint. Her body grew until it was a foot taller, and now she bore her harpy form. At the same time, Tart had turned into his staff form and was now being held in her right hand.
"I don't know about you, but I'd say this works pretty well. Besides, I still need to get used to this form." Lilith said with a smile as she rested the butt of her staff on the ground.
Luz and Stringbean's (who was in a semi-active state on her staff) eyes sparkled in awe of the woman. "So cool! " the carver and palisman said.
Flint couldn't help but shake his head with a fond smile.
Eda, Owlbert, and King (still wearing a party hat on one of his horns) can all be seen around the coffee table in the living room. Each has their eyes narrowed as they glance at one another in an intense stare-down, periodically glancing down.
King's eyes glimmered with glee as he slammed his hand on the table…and placed a blue card on the table with a '1' on it.
"UNO! Ha!" King said triumphantly.
Eda looked at him smugly. "Oh yeah? I seem to remember you only have blue left. It'd be a shame if I…changed it to red!" Eda declared, slapping down a WILD.
"Nooooo!" King wailed before his eyes widened and he regained his composure. "Er-I mean, that's what I wanted you to think! Yeah!" King lied, definitely not having a blue 5 card remaining in his hand.
"Hoo."
The two turned over to see Owlbert placing a red 3 card down atop the discard pile, and none left in his hand (wing). He smiled cheekily.
"…Oh yeah, you had UNO too," Eda said absently before throwing her twenty-six-card hand into the air in frustration. "How do you always do this?! And why did you two only use draws on me?!"
"Because it's funny," King said without hesitation, as Owlbert snickered from his side of the table.
The trio then heard a knock at the door. Eda heads over as Owlbert lands on her shoulder. She opens the door and is met with her mother standing outside.
"Hello, witchlet." Gwendolyn greeted.
"Hey, Ma. Why are you still in town? Forget something from yesterday?" Eda asked.
"Your father wanted to swing by, actually," Gwendolyn informed her.
Eda's whole body tensed. Owlbert looked at her and gave a worried hoot as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
"I'm good bud. I'm just…you know." Eda said before turning back to her mother. "Is he already on his way?" Eda asked.
Gwendolyn was surprised by this reaction. "He's right outside. I'm surprised you didn't say something like 'Tell him I'm busy'." Gwendolyn noted.
King scurried over and perched on the nearby treasure chest. "I think Flint got on her case about it or something," King said before suddenly gasping, bringing his paws to his face. "I get to meet my grandpa?!" King asked excitedly.
Gwendolyn smiled. "Yes. Say, did you know that the Clawthorne clan was once known for their Palisman-making skills? And Dell? Wooh, he was the best of them all." Gwendolyn told the young demon.
King's eyes sparkled in awe. "Cool!"
Eda glances out the corner of her eye out the door as she sees movement. Eda tenses again as she sees a face she hasn't dared to talk to for many years. At the same time, Owlbert looks over and lets out a cheerful hoot, flying off her shoulder to greet the approaching man.
"Well well well, it's been a while Owlbert. I hope you've been taking care of my little witchlet." Dell said, raising his free hand to let the owl perch on it, albeit shakily.
Owlbert lets out a hoot and Dell's palisman, Toast, turns to Dell and lets out a chirp. Dell chuckles. "Yes, I suppose she always has been quite the handful." Dell agreed.
"Hey…Dad." Eda greets, looking down and averting her gaze as she rubs her elbow.
Dell looked on with a hint of shock before it faded into a look that radiated sheer relief. "Hello, Edalyn." Dell greeted, his voice sounding like decades of worry had finally washed away.
Gwendolyn and King looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement, before pushing Eda out the door and closing it. A moment later, both could be seen pressed up against the windowpane on the inside, eagerly watching.
"Hi, Dell!" Hooty greeted, eliciting another chuckle from the man.
"Hello to you too, Hooty." Dell greeted before turning to Eda and Owlbert flew back to his perch on Eda's shoulder. "Not going to run away again?"
Eda sighed. "No…I've done that enough already." Eda thought back to a conversation she'd had with Flint sometime after Gray awakened. After what he told her…she realized just how lucky she was.
Eda pursed her lips. "I…I'm so sorry." Eda apologized.
Dell looked at her with pity. "I know it wasn't your fault, witchlet. How the curse reacted isn't on-"
"I'm not talking about the curse."
Eda's interruption caught Dell off-guard, confusing him. "Oh. Then may I ask what you're saying sorry for?" Dell asked.
"I'm sorry for being a terrible daughter," Eda said. "Running away, avoiding you for decades all because I was being stupid about all this…" Eda paused as she sniffled a bit, a few tears welling in her eyes and she suddenly surged forward and wrapped the shell-shocked Dell in a hug, clinging onto him.
"I…I'm just glad you're still here." Eda finally said, her voice breaking in a barely audible whisper. "And I'm sorry for taking that for granted."
This sudden behavior of his youngest left Dell taken aback. Even before the incident with the beast, which was the last time he'd properly seen her, he'd never seen her get like this. Eda was a ball of energy waiting to be used, which often led to her being such an agent of chaos. She shrugged off adversary without a sweat and didn't take shit from no one. After the incident, he'd heard how much that had changed. Gone was the carefree nature she'd once had, with any semblance of her former self being like a mask she'd wear to make it seem like she was okay, and the energy she once showed had dimmed significantly. Today, he saw a side of her he never thought he'd see.
Eda had been tempered. She understood responsibility as she had never before, no doubt brought on by raising his now-grandson, as well as watching over Flint and…Luz? He believed that was the name Gwen and Sweet Flea had called her. The Eda he was seeing was still the same he'd been happy to hold in his arms, a deeply caring person, but she was far more vulnerable now.
Dell wrapped his arms around his daughter, something he hadn't been able to do for far too long.
The two stayed like this for what felt like forever until Dell pulled back to look his daughter in the eyes. "You were scared. While I would've liked to see you sooner, I understand that you haven't been able to forgive yourself for something that wasn't your fault for a long time."
Eda wiped a tear from her eyes and let out a chuckle. "Well…you could say I met some people that finally got it through my thick skull."
Dell smiled. "I figured as much. The boy is something else."
Eda snorted. "Oh, you have no idea how right you are." Eda separated from her father's embrace. "So, a little birdie told me you've been helpin' ol' BQ out."
Dell smiled as he pulled out a seed with his shaky hand. "You could say that. Our work in restoring her forest has been going along quite well. Although…I could really use an apprentice to learn the trade, seeing as I'm no longer in any condition to do so myself."
"I can try to find someone for you, but I'm afraid I can't while that dang Day of Unity is on the way," Eda said.
Dell put the seed in Eda's hand. "That's fine, it can wait for another day. I'd quite like to meet my grandson now if you don't mind."
Eda smiled as the two walked to the door. "And he's happy to meet you too, pops."
When Luz, Lilith, and Flint step through the timepool they are met with the sight of an older(younger?) Bonesborough. Luz and Lilith fly ahead while Flint trails behind, crossing the water as they arrive at the town's outskirts. Luz and Lilith stand against the gate.
"Listen up your two. We are technically in the Savage Ages before Belos banished wild magic. These denizens may be dangerous!" Lilith warned.
Luz huffed. "Phssh! Please! They ain't got nothin' on us. Right Flint?" Luz said smugly.
The silence that followed wasn't something either of them expected.
The two looked around frantically for the boy, only to see he wasn't with them. They tried to look for him only for Lilith to point to something off in the distance.
"There he is!" Lilith called out, as Luz looked in the direction she was pointing to see him still on his staff and flying off.
"What is he doing?! And where is he going?!" Luz exclaimed.
Lilith held her hand above her eyes and squinted, watching the direction Flint was flying in. "Judging from the trajectory, he seems to be flying toward the Knee," Lilith noted.
"But why?" Luz asked.
Lilith scratched her chin in thought. "I believe I recall Edalyn saying Eclipse Lake was dried up. Perhaps he's going to retrieve some additional Titan's Blood before it dries up." Lilith suggested.
"But how will he find us after getting it?" Luz asked.
Lilith was silent for a moment. "I'm inclined to inform you that Flint has placed tracking enchantments on you, Amity, and King."
"…I'm not sure whether to think that's endearing, or creepy…first one is probably better," Luz said.
The two walk through the gate and into town. As they walk, Luz accidentally bumps into a demon and instinctively gets into a defensive stance.
"Oh, my dearest apologies kind witches." The demon apologized as he tipped his hat. "Good tidings!" He finished before walking off.
Luz and Lilith stared stupefied as the demon walked off. As they walked through the town, they were repeatedly met with contradicting sights. The residents were generally peaceful, helping each other out and being friendly with everyone around them.
"Does the definition of 'savage' mean something completely different in the Demon Realm? Because this certainly isn't as advertised," Luz noted.
Lilith frowned. "What? No. These are supposed to be violent times."
Luz raised a brow. "Oh yeah? And who says that?"
Lilith became notably silent as Luz could almost physically see the gears turning in her head. Lilith's face then morphed into a scowl as her feathers stood on end. "…The Emperor." Lilith spat.
Luz huffed smugly. "Thought so. Seriously, anyone crowning themselves as an emperor is just outing themselves as a control freak."
"Alright, so how are we going to find Philip?" Lilith asked.
Luz reached into her pocket and pulled out a sliver of paper as Stringbean came to life at the end of the staff. "This is from his journal. Flint restored the page again after I ripped this out, but Stringbean should be able to track his scent from it…I think." Luz hesitantly added.
Lilith raised a brow. "You 'think'?" Lilith asked skeptically.
"He had the thing for a long time, didn't he? Even if it got all covered in dust, some of his scent should still be imprinted on it, right?" Luz countered defensively before turning to Stringbean and holding the paper up to her. "Help Mama find a not-yet-dead guy you cutie-patootie."
Stringbean gave the page a whiff before recoiling in disgust. "Gross. Smell bad. Real bad. Rotten wood bad." Stringbean stated before sniffing the air a bit and straightening herself out perpendicular to the staff, pointing forward. "That way!"
The two follow Stringbean's directions through the town. Eventually, they no longer need to as they hear a commotion up ahead.
"Dance, human. Dance!"
The two peek around a corner to see two demons of similar appearance. Each was a cyclops and they had a large fang pointing up from their mouth, one red and on their left and the other green on their right. Their clothing was notably the same color as their respective fang. The two were ganging up on a smaller figure, playing an impromptu game of keep-away using a very familiar book.
"Give that back!" The figure, whose ears were notably round, demanded as he tried to recover his stolen property, his voice sounding exactly like it did in the playbacks from Disney.
Philip shook his head with exasperation. "I can't believe this. After the bonds of fellowship we forged-"
"'Bonds'? Ha! You still owe us." Red Fang said before giving him a hard push, forcing him to the ground.
"When I accomplish my mission, I promise you, you'll have your snails," Philip promised.
Green Fang huffed. "Listen to this." He opens the book. "'With my new and bravest companion, Blue Fang, I set forth.'" Beside him, Red Fang begins laughing at the mocking recitement of the page. "'His strength should make fast work of any task." Green Fang finishes before passing the book to his lookalike.
"His pretty little words should make pretty good kindling." Red Fang snickered as he cast a fire spell, holding the book above it and preparing to burn it, much to Philip's horror.
Before the book can be burned though, Luz wills ice glyphs to activate from her feet, causing a pillar of ice to knock the book into the air (a few pages scattering in the process) before a long, prehensile tongue snatches it and pulls it to her. Everyone turns in the direction of the book as Stringbean can be seen atop her staff with her mouth open, morphing her tongue to be like a frog's. Stringbean detaches her tongue from the book as it sails through the air, becoming inanimate again as the book lands in Luz's free hand.
Luz stands determined as she glares at the two. "This doesn't belong to you."
Red Fang growls as he steps forward to give Luz a piece of his mind, only for Green Fang to hold his arm up in front of him, holding him back.
"Don't waste your time on the kid. We should keep looking." Green Fang eased, though he glanced angrily at Luz.
Red Fang snarled but listened, but not before pointing at Philip and growling. "Ask your friend there what happened to our brother, Blue Fang, and his Palisman." Red said his piece, as his brother kicked the pages at his feet before the two walked away.
After watching to make sure the two demons are gone, Luz offers the book back to Philip. "Here's your-" Philip swiped the book from her hand.
"Keep your filthy hands off-!" Philip shouted with hatred before cutting himself off and recollecting himself, his anger sliding off his features. "Apologies. Thank you for your…assistance against those brutes." Philip said slowly.
Philip went to recollect the scattered pages only to yelp in pain, holding his right leg briefly before continuing at a slightly slower pace.
Luz goes and collects some of the other pages further away. She looks at one of the pages she picked up and sees the drawing of Eclipse Lake. 'Looks like Flint was right about him visiting the lake already. But how did he know?' Luz pondered internally. She then notices the illustration near the top of the page, showing two figures. 'Is that supposed to be his brother Caleb? Why does he look strangely familiar?'
Luz is brought out of her thoughts when Philip snatches the pages out of Luz's hands. "Hmph! Those are private." Philip admonished.
"Sorry, I was admiring the art," Luz said quickly as Lilith walked up beside her. "You're Philip Wittebane, aren't you? The human?" Luz asked, already knowing the answer.
Philip looked back at them with a skeptical squint. "Here to gawk? I may not have a bile sac, but I do have dignity." Philip responded as he put the journal away and turned his back, only for Luz to speak up again and cause him to look back.
"Wait! I've heard you were looking for a way back to the Human Realm. I wanted to learn more about humans. I know how to make a portal there if I could just ask you some questions." Luz said. They needed to keep their cover and maybe offering the man assistance in getting home could be her ticket to-
"No." Philip denied after giving her a once-over.
"What?!" Luz exclaimed.
Philip huffed. "I already know how to get there. I have all the necessary materials for my portal already. I do not need your assistance." Philip states as he begins to walk off with a limp.
"Wait! I can give you snails! I can make you crutches! Um, uh...I can help you find the Collector!" Luz blurts out.
Luz's statement makes Philip halt in his footsteps, glancing sideways with a mixture of curiosity and surprise.
Luz and Philip can be seen walking side-by-side through the forest as Lilith walks a few paces behind them, watching them interact carefully.
"So, Luzura. You and your Aunt Raven started traveling to catalog the various unique locations across the Isles, while also seeking out your friend Lockwood?" Philip asked, making sure he had the story right.
'Luzura' nodded her head. "Yes. Weird things have been happening to him lately, making him look like a creature we don't know. I wanna find him and discover what's changing him, and we need the Collector's help to bring him home. I'm…worried about him," Luz part-lied. This was the cover they had decided on. Her worry was genuine though.
Philip let out a hum. "A noble pursuit." Philip complimented as he brought the two into a cave. "Now…anyone bring a torch?" Philip asked.
Luz smiled as she pulled out a blank piece of paper and held it face up in her palm. After a moment, the light glyph glowed through the page as the glyph was inscribed, before crumbling into a ball of light that floated up before the now-stunned Philip.
"Astounding! I thought I was the only one who used picto-glyphs." Philip said in awe.
This surprised the two women. "You use glyphs too?" Luz asks, making another light glyph on a new paper and passing it to Philip.
Philip snorted with an air of pride. "How else could I have survived here? Plant growth, ice, fire...took years to find them." Philip revealed as he sketches the light glyph's design into his journal. "Almost as if the world wanted to hide them from me. I even found one in a snowflake after noticing they were the same."
Luz smiled excitedly. "My dude, me too! Lockwood already knew of them from some weird dreams when we were younger, but then we learned all four could be used for magic! He even made me these cool gloves."
Philip tilted his head. "How are those gloves relevant?" Philip questioned.
Luz grinned. "Check it," Luz said as she showed her hand, which lit up with an ice glyph and created a ball of ice in her hand. "All I have to do is think of the glyph or combo, and the gloves react. I can even do this." Luz said eagerly, her hand now glowing with a plant glyph and pressing it on the ground. She pulled her hand off the ground and revealed a plant glyph printed in the dirt. She then tapped it and a flower grew.
"Remarkable! Not only can they be cast from the glove, but can be inscribed onto a separate surface. Much faster than drawing out the entire glyph!" Philip praised, drawing a rough sketch of the glove in his journal. "This friend of yours seems to be quite adept in picto-glyph magic. Scholars and warriors, a truly impressive combination." Philip praised before walking ahead.
As Philip left earshot, Luz let out a contained whisper-squeal as she leaned over to Lilith.
"Ah! I can't believe I taught Philip something new!" Luz said before walking forward to catch up to said man.
Lilith, however, narrows her eyes at the man.
'Not trust.' Stolas, the now-named beast in her head informed her.
'Agreed. There is something off about him. I don't like that look in his eye.' Lilith agreed internally as she followed.
As Philip leads them deeper into the cave, he is continuously creating light glyphs, likely to engrain the design into his muscle memory.
"Line there, curve there...fascinating. Absolutely fascinating." Philip marveled.
All this time Philip had spent here and there was still a glyph he had missed. Perhaps this was the glyph missing in his failed combinations. And those gloves, recreating them would serve him great- He could feel himself being stared at, no doubt by the girl's 'aunt'. Time to play his most trustworthy card: flattery.
"Your niece is very talented. I'm sure she takes after her aunt." Philip compliments with a forced smile that makes him want to vomit, but he doesn't show it. To give praise to any of these accursed hellspawns disgusted him. He would admit he could tell the girl wasn't entirely lying about that friend of hers though; she wore her emotions on her sleeve too clearly.
Lilith was taken aback. "Oh. Well…" Lilith scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "I wouldn't quite say that. I'm really more of an adoptive aunt, so we aren't actually related." Lilith denied the praise. "She…didn't exactly like me when we first met a few months ago."
"Hm. Well, clearly her opinion has changed a lot in that time." Philip responded before walking forward as he threw a ball of light into the air. It was quickly becoming a favorite, and it was far less unruly of a light source than a torch or fire glyph. "Now, I know a few tricks as well." Philip used a stick to draw a large and very complicated glyph combo on the ground made entirely out of fire, ice, and plant glyphs. There were multiple interconnected circles, the glyphs were in varying sizes, and Luz even noticed one fire glyph that was rotated at a different angle.
"What is this?" Luz asked in awe.
"A shortcut...to the Collector," Philip states as he taps the glyph combo to activate it. Suddenly, it flashes a bright white as Lilith and Luz's vision is obscured.