Hunter stared out the window, Flapjack sleeping on his head, in the middle of reading a book but getting distracted with his own thoughts. Hooty was sleeping, when suddenly he spotted Lilith and some coven guards peeking out from the bushes. His eyes widened, and opened his mouth to say something, but watched as Hooty suddenly awoke and began to deal with them. He slammed his face into the ground, popping behind Lilith.

"Hiya Lilith!" Hooty said. "Peek-a-hoot!"

He smashed Lilith into a tree, and she grunted. The guards charged.

"Sorry! Eda doesn't like trespassers, but I'm always here to make new friends! Hoot!" Hooty bonked a guard on the head and wore the guard's armor. "Oh, look at me! I'm a person now! Wobbly, wobbly! Ooh, blackout! Hoot hoot!"

Hooty punched the other guard with the guard's unconscious body, before throwing the body away. "Hoot hoot! Bye friend! Ooh! I feel like dancing! Hoot!" He shook his body to hit the guards.

Lilith grunted, grabbing her staff and standing. Hooty bobbed in front of a tree, but she took aim and fired at him.

"Oh hey! Look, it's a bug!" Hooty said, bending down to look at it - but it was just an odd leaf. Lilith's spell missed, hitting the tree behind Hooty and watching as it fell down, almost on top of her but luckily she managed to collapse just a little ways away from it.

Hunter turned away from the window with bewildered, wide eyes, and saw Eda using binoculars to look at the battle.

"Hooty! Ah, you're a thorn in my side, but you always dig your way into my heart." She said, as she took a sip of tea while Hooty knocked out another guard. She was wearing a scarf, which covered her yellow gem.

Hunter sighed, putting a bookmark in the book he was reading and closing it, before setting it down and walking over. "What are you brewing?" Hunter asked, noticing the cauldron. He peeked inside and saw what looked like magical spaghetti.

"Hey!" Eda said, slapping Hunter away with a spoon. "That's Witch's Wool. It repels powerful spells." She held up some of the wool. "Every witch worth their salt has a cloak made from the stuff."

"This'll be really handy - especially since the Emperor's Coven have stepped up their attacks recently." Hunter said.

"Yeah - Emperor Belos wants to control all wild magic through his coven system. He order my capture years ago because I refuse to fall in line." Eda said with an annoyed tone.

"And he isn't going to stop until he has you." Hunter said, staring at the floor with a frown. Eda ruffled his hair.

"Aw, don't sound so worried. I'm a master escape artist. The only thing that can slow me down is my curse, and that hasn't bothered me in weeks." Eda said. Suddenly, feathers burst out of her arms. "Uh oh..."

"Eda!" Hunter yelled, backing away as she transformed into the Owl Beast. "King, get the elixir now!" Hunter yelled.

King came rushing into the room with bottles of elixir at the ready.

+.*.+

After a while of feeding Eda a dozen elixirs, Eda was finally back to normal - and clutching Hunter's face. She quickly removed her hand, taking out an empty bottle from her mouth.

"Thanks for this!" She said. She noticed the other empty bottles. "And those."

Eda scarf fell off, revealing her gem was still half-dark.

"Hey, your gem! It's still dark!" Hunter said, pointing at it. Eda quickly pulled the scarf over it.

"No, it's not! You're nuts!" Eda said.

"The curse has been getting worse and you've been hiding it!" Hunter said, frowning.

"Ugh... you're right." Eda said. "It's taking more elixir to turn me back and more magic to keep the curse from rearing its feathery head."

"What happens if you use your magic up?" Hunter asked. "Do you... do you die?"

"No! Gosh, you're morbid. I just kinda sorta, turn into the Owl Beast... forever." Eda said. "Ahh, its a fate much worse than death if you think about it."

"What?! No, I can't let that happen! I'll try and find a cure - there has to be one somewhere-" Hunter said, starting to pace back and forth, rambling. Eda put her hand on Hunter's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry. I just have to limit my magic use a little." Eda said. Flapjack stirred from their sleep with a chirp, nuzzling into Hunter's hair for comfort - although whether it was for Hunter's or Flapjack's comfort, Eda couldn't tell.

Hunter just stared worriedly at Eda. She sighed.

"Fine, do that parallel arm thing." She said, and Hunter hugged her. King hugged Eda's leg.

"King demands huggies too!" He said.

"Alright guys, time for school!" Eda said after a bit, trying to move on from the hugging.

"When I come back from school, I'm going to research on ways to cure your curse." Hunter said determinedly. Eda sighed.

"Fine, fine. But don't wear yourself out doing that." Eda said, waving goodbye as Hunter mounted Flapjack and staff form and took off to school.

Eda walked over to the cauldron of Witch's Wool.

"He's so considerate. He deserves something nice." Eda said, her eyes landing on the Witch's Wool. "And I think I know what."

+.*.+

Hunter flew over the forest, shuddering at the image of Hooty having a tea party down below. He arrived at Hexside, noticing Principal Bump and various students lined up for a flying ship. Flapjack returned to animal form as Hunter walked over to Willow and Gus.

"Hunter, you ready for the field trip of a lifetime to the one, the only, Emperor's Castle!" Gus said excitedly.

"Right. I was actually gonna stay behind - you know, on the run and everything." Hunter said.

"Oh, yeah." Gus said. But after a few moments he shoved a book in Hunter's face. "But you're gonna miss out on all the cool stuff!"

"Like what?" Hunter asked.

"Like ancient relics!" Willow said. "Look, it's the Plant Coven's Green Thumb Gauntlet! It can grow whatever you can imagine." She pointed towards the corresponding relic in Gus' book. The book showed a picture of regular trees captioned 'BEFORE'. In the 'AFTER' section, it showed the tree tops now acting as heads, with all of them having arms and abs, and one was holding an owl's nest.

"And the Oracle Sphere!" Gus said, flipping the page to show a white sphere with a two-headed snake on it. "It shows you which path will help you become your best self!"

Hunter flipped the page, coming across one that piqued his interest. "'The Healing Hat. Made from the magic of the Savage Ages. It is said to cure the deadliest diseases... and heal any curse'?" He read, his eyes widening.

"Yeah! You can't miss this!" Willow said.

"All aboard, students!" Principal Bump called, and Willow and Gus headed over to board the flying ship, dropping the book on the Healing Hat page. Hunter looked at it for a few seconds, picking it up and running over. He pulled his uniform's cowl over his head and joined Willow and Gus on the ship, who looked happy that he'd changed his mind.

You've done so much for me, Eda. He thought, staring at the Healing Hat page. Now I'm gonna do something for you.

+.*.+

As they got closer to the Emperor's Castle, students started cheering.

"No roughhousing! Do not make me turn this carriage around!" Principal Bump yelled.

Hunter stared at a notebook he;d brought along with him. He'd written down a pretty basic and non-detailed plan on getting the Healing Hat - labelled the Healing Hat Heist.

"Hey, Hunter!" Willow said unexpectedly, and Hunter yelped, quickly stuffing his notepad away.

"Ah! What was that, Willow?" Hunter asked nervously, trying to pretend that he was listening the entire time.

"I was just saying we were getting close to the castle." Willow said. The two looked over the ship at the castle. Hunter pulled his cowl a little tighter. "Emperor Belos built it as a symbol of unity. Before he came to power, folks were doing magic all wrong. He taught us that the only way to respect the Titan gave us was through joining covens."

Hunter doubted that, but he didn't say anything - just stared at the Emperor's Castle with unease, not liking how it felt really familiar.

"It's a shame Amity couldn't make it. She would've loved this trip." Willow said. Since Amity's leg was in a cast, she wouldn't be able to come to the trip.

"So, Willow... would you say that this Emperor Belos is, um, powerful?" Hunter asked, not taking his uneasy eyes from the castle. Willow chuckled.

"No offense to Eda, but the Emperor is the most skilled witch that's ever lived. He can even talk to the Titan." Willow said.

"Isn't it dead, though?" Hunter asked. Willow shrugged.

The ship landed in front of the castle, and Hunter (for the fiftieth time) made sure the cowl covered his face. Flapjack was hidden inside the cowl as well for extra measure.

"Now, the Emperor's assistant will be your tour guide. Please don't make me regret taking you here." Principal Bump said. A small bipedal demon (who Gus said was named Kikimora) stood on a platform as a bridge extended to the ship.

The bridge retreated, bringing everyone closer to Kikimora. Hunter didn't know why but he already disliked Kikimora.

"Children of Hexside, Emperor Belos welcomes you to his castle. We're honored by visits from students. You'll soon be a part of a coven, some lucky few may even find their home here, in the might Emperor's Coven!" Kikimora said. The class whispered amongst each other in awe, but Hunter just felt uneasy. He just wanted to get in, get the Healing Hat, and get out - and he hadn't even stepped foot inside the actual castle yet.

"You... are the future of the Isles! My job is to teach you its past." Kikimora said.

She led the class inside the castle, guards flanking either side of the hallway, saluting, as other walked on overpasses. The walls were covered in tapestries, murals and statues. Hunter recognized the halls from that memory where he got that scar, and felt even immensely more uneasy - if that was even possible. Flapjack sensed his tension and tried to ease it a little by nuzzling his neck under the cowl, and Hunter gave the smallest of smiles.

"Today, the Isles is a place of peace and prosperity. But that wasn't always the case." Kikimora gestured to a mural of witches dancing around a fire. "Up until 50 years ago, witches and demons practiced wild magic during what we called the Savage Ages. Witches had access to corrupt knowledge, and that dishonored the Titan." She continued, leading them away.

Hunter stopped at a grate, considering it as a possible route.

"That was, until our great Emperor ascended to the throne, and taught witches how to use magic properly." Kikimora gestured to a mural of Belos holding up a beam of light, witches below celebrating his power. "Our next stop is the Emperor's personal collection of relics."

"Oh! Hunter, you'll like this. It's where-" Willow started, but both her and Gus stared at Hunter as he was in the midst of his struggle to open the vent. He quickly stopped.

"Wow, love it when the ventilation system is... so sturdy!" Hunter said nervously as he walked away.

The trio followed the group to a room, the class gasped in awe and wonder.

"The Relic Room. These items are reminders of our great Emperor's overwhelming power." Kikimora said, passing the Oracle Sphere. "From the curious and mighty."

Gus gasped at the Oracle Sphere.

"To the very handy." Kikimora said, passing the Green Thumb Gauntlet.

"Oh, I could grow such beautiful things with that." Willow gushed, staring in awe at the gauntlet.

"And even, the most valuable." Kikimora said, passing the Healing Hat. Hunter stared at it.

There it was.

"Come along, children." Kikimora said, and Willow moved to catch up. Hunter started moving towards the Healing Hat but Gus grabbed his hand and followed the group.

They walked through the hallway, Kikimora continuing her tour's speech. "Here at the Emperor's Coven, we require members with sophistication, elegance, and grace." She said.

A door slammed open, and the class turned to see Lilith, leaves in her disheveled hair. She spit out feathers and vanished her staff, then entered. Hunter gasped and quickly ducked around a corner. He already had a cowl on, but he didn't want to risk Lilith recognizing him.

"Ah! Make way for Miss Lilith Clawthorne, students." Kikimora said. The class whispered to each other in awe.

"Yes, and if I'm not mistaken, she's on her way to meet the Emperor himself. Let's all wish her luck!" Kikimora said. If you could see Kikimora's mouth, Hunter was sure she would be giving Lilith a cheeky grin.

"Good luck, Miss Lilith!" The class said. Lilith blushed with embarrassment and huffed.

"Thank you, students. Good luck with puberty." She said, and walked off. Hunter moved from his hiding place and continued to follow the group. However, he spotted Lilith moving down a hall and decided to risk following her. So, he quietly sneaked off from the group to follow her.

The closer to the Emperor's room they got, the more pipes were visible snaking around the halls. Hunter almost got caught, but quickly hide behind a corner, and Lilith was none the wiser. He sighed in relief.

Lilith stopped before two great doors and stopped to clean herself and freshen up, before entering. Hunter ran up to the door and looked through the crack.

Inside was a massive throne room, a giant, green beating heart above the Emperor's throne - and the actual Emperor sat in it. Hunter paled and almost gasped, but covered his mouth before he could do so. Various guards stood around the room, including one with a golden owl-like mask that stood directly beside the throne. Lilith approached the throne and kneeled.

"I am at your service, Emperor Belos." Lilith said.

Emperor Belos breathed heavily, and a guard gave him a palisman on a tray.

"Just a moment, Lilith." The emperor said, taking the palisman. He sank his fingers in the palisman's neck, dragging a line and breaking its head off. Glowing green goop fell out of the palisman, which Emperor Belos poured into the eye holes of his mask. His eyes glowed a flashing green.

"Ah, that's better." He said.

Hunter covered his mouth with wide eyes, backing away from the doors and using his other hand to hold Flapjack close. He ran away from the door, not wanting to watch anything further.

+.*.+

"Please don't notice I'm gone, please don't notice I'm - boarding the bus?" Hunter muttered to himself, watching through a window. He saw himself, with his cowl on, boarding back onto the bus with the other students.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and yelped, but sighed in relief when it was just Willow and Gus - the latter spinning three spell circles.

"Oh! Guys, I, uh..." Hunter stammered, trying to think of an excuse.

"You were planning on taking the Healing Hat, weren't you?" Willow said, pulling out Hunter's notepad. He didn't realize he'd dropped it.

Hunter sighed. "Yeah... but you don't understand. Eda has this curse and its eating away at her magic, and I-"

"Hunter, no matter what, you can't steal this hat." Willow said.

"But you can borrow it!" Gus said, stepping in front of Willow.

"Hey! I wanted to say that!" Willow said to Gus, before turning back to Hunter. "We learned about Eda's curse from your notes. We're totally gonna help you."

Hunter smiled. "Thanks guys. Now lets go get that hat."

+.*.+

After sneaking past the guards (and making Kikimora do the worm), they made it to the Relic Room. Hunter ran over to the Healing Hat.

Hunter grabbed the hat, and watched as it glowed. He grinned. "I'll finally be able to help Eda."

"I can feel the magic flowing!" Gus said, holding the Oracle Sphere. "Finally, I'm about to become my best self!"

Gus held the sphere, and a purple tinted double of him appeared.

"You're always your best self." The Gus copy said, and the real Gus started tearing up.

Willow wore the Green Thumb Gauntlet, growing a large wooden arm which flexed, before it shrank back and she put it back on the pedestal.

"I just wanted to try it out." She said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Now we can cure Eda and get this hat back before anyone knows its gone." Hunter said, relieved that everything was going smoothly.

"I will know."

Hunter flinched, immediately on edge. That was the Emperor's voice. He glanced around, but the emperor was nowhere in sight. He and Willow backed up.

"We need to go. Now." Hunter said quickly. However, barricades dropped in front of the doors, locking them in. The trio was locked inside.

"Stand back!" Willow said, grabbing the gauntlet and growing a massive buff tree. It extended its arms towards one of the barricades.

With a loud crash, the barricade now had a hole in it, Hunter coughed, and Willow's tree shrank to nothing.

"Come on, let's go!" Hunter said, about to go through the hole, when Lilith walked through, pointing her staff at his face. He backed away, but Lilith pushed down the hood of Hunter's cowl, Flapjack chirping.

"Why, if it isn't Eda's apprentice. Looks like I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone." Lilith said. Hunter continued to back as Lilith advanced on him. "Aren't I lucky to find you here."

"Stay away! If you touch us, Eda will come after you so fast-" Hunter said. Lilith suddenly teleported in front of him.

"That's the plan." She said.

"Run, Hunter!" Willow yelled, grabbing the gauntlet again and using it to grab Lilith's staff. Just as Hunter was doing that, however, Lilith threw Willow against the door.

"Willow!" He yelled.

"Wrong move, Lilith. It's two against one, and you don't stand a chance against-" Gus said, but Lilith poofed Gus' double with her staff. A few seconds later, Gus was thrown beside Willow, before Lilith turned to Hunter.

"Now, that doesn't belong to you." Lilith said, using magic to grab the Healing Hat. Hunter kept a firm grip on it, trying to make sure Lilith didn't get it, but the hat was shredded to pieces. Hunter stared at it in horror.

"No! I needed that for Eda!" Hunter yelled.

"Huh." Lilith said, grabbing Hunter. He tried to wriggle free, but Lilith's grip was tight. Flapjack chirped, flying towards Lilith trying to peck at her, but with her free hand to smacked the red cardinal away.

"Flapjack!" Hunter yelled, as the bird flew towards Willow and perched on her shoulder.

"These decrepit relics are useless." Lilith said. She turned to Willow and Gus. "If you wanna see your friend again, deliver this to Edalyn."

Her staff flew towards Willow and Gus, flying them away.

"Hunter!" Willow cried, before she, Gus and Flapjack were out of sight. Hunter glared up at Lilith, who just smirked.

+.*.+

Eda folded a completed witch's wool cloak, satisfied with her work. Hooty swung open the door.

"I spy with my little eye something coming this way!" Hooty said. Eda's eyes widened.

"Hunter!" She said. King quickly tried to get in a cake, Eda helping him, before the door knocked.

Eda went over to the door with a smile, but her face fell when she saw it wasn't Hunter.

"Eda, we have some bad news..." Willow said worriedly.

Flapjack flew off Willow's shoulder and worriedly chirped at Eda, and her eyes widened. That palisman always followed Hunter around. But Hunter was nowehere in sight...

Eda looked up and saw Lilith's staff, floating threateningly behind them. Eda glared at it.

+.*.+

At the bridge of the Emperor's Castle, Lilith stood, waiting for Eda to arrive.

"Come on, Edalyn. You would be late when I need you most." Lilith muttered to herself, looking up at the castle. She saw Emperor Belos and the Golden Guard watching from above - although the Golden Guard seemed a little tense. Maybe it was just the distance making it seem that way.

Yellow light flashed, and Eda appeared. Lilith smirked, but Eda threw Lilith's staff into the castle wall, leaving a crater.

"Sister! I see that you got my invitation to a Witch's Duel!" Lilith said. Bolts of electricity flew at her, though none hit her. Eda flew at her, taunting. Lilith blocked one hit with a summoned shield, summoning her staff as well and firing a bolt at Eda.

"Where is he?" Eda asked, venom lacing her voice, flying towards Lilith.

"Easy now." Lilith said. Eda stopped, glaring at Lilith, furious.

"Your apprentice is safe." Lilith said. She tapped her staff to the ground. A blue bubble flew out of the castle, with Hunter inside it.

"Eda!" Hunter said, banging against the bubble. Lilith walked in front of him.

"You can have him back - for a short while - provided you do as I say." Lilith said, muttering that middle part. "Renounce your wild ways and join the Emperor's Coven. He can help heal your curse!"

"Don't believe everything that bonehead tells you. He doesn't want to heal me, he wants to control me!" Eda growled.

"Then I will take you in by force." Lilith said, spinning her staff.

"You've always looked down on me because I'm wild, but fortunately, that just made me work harder than you!" Eda said, slamming her staff on the ground. A towering owl made of light was summoned behind her, Eda rushing at Lilith and launching her in the air.

In the air, Eda appeared behind Lilith, but she disappeared as Eda swung her staff. Lilith reappeared behind Eda, but Eda disappeared, reappearing behind Lilith and kicking her. Then she zapped away to chase her.

From the bubble, Hunter watched Eda and Lilith zip across the sky, nothing but gold and blue lights weaving and crashing. Flapjack flew over to the bubble, and Hunter noticed.

"Flapjack!" He said, banging against the bubble. Flapjack tried pecking at it, but quickly flew away as Lilith shot a beam of light at Hunter's bubble, sending it flying. Eda landed on the bridge as Hunter yelped.

"Hunter!" She yelled.

She redirected the boards of the bridge to keep Hunter from falling off, Lilith dropping down. Eda rolled out of the way to avoid being crushed, summoning a Hooty Hydra to wrap Lilith up. Eda spun her staff and sent a giant blast at Lilith - however, Lilith moved Hunter's bubble in front of the blast and Eda's eyes widened, quickly redirecting the blast away from them.

"Stop hiding behind Hunter, you coward!" Eda yelled, panting.

"It's sad to see you slowing down, sister. Tell me, is it the curse?" Lilith asked, panting as well.

Eda growled, the sound resembling the Owl Beast. Hunter noticed her gem was slowly turning black, and he banged on the bubble, trying to call out to Eda, but she ignored him. Flapjack chirped, hovering next to his bubble.

"Maybe it is the curse. But then how pathetic are you, that you can't best me at my worst?!" Eda yelled, spinning her staff and summoning a dozen rings of magic, all of which sent bolts towards Lilith. Eda's Hooty Hydra dragged Hunter to safety as Lilith summoned a shield to protect herself, Flapjack following.

Hunter looked around, noticing a sharp rock, and an idea formed.

"Maybe you are stronger than me, but that made me work smarter! I became smart, crafty!" Lilith yelled back.

"A lapdog for a tyrant!" Eda yelled.

Hunter slammed the bubble against the rock a few times, finally breaking free. Flapjack chirped, transforming into staff form.

"You always thought you were better than me, that I could never beat you in anything." Lilith said.

"I am better than you!" Eda snapped.

"Then why were you so easy to curse?!" Lilith yelled, then gasped and covered her mouth. Eda stared at her, shocked and betrayed.

"A-And I have the power to remove it, if you would just let me explain." Lilith said quickly. Eda looked away, shaking in anger, but before she could let out her fury on her older sister, Hunter did it for her.

He used Flapjack to dash forward towards Lilith, sending her barreling towards the castle wall hard enough to leave a crater behind.

Hunter turned to Eda, who's gem was almost completely black. "Eda, your magic!" Hunter said, running over. But while running over, his guard was down, and suddenly Lilith used her magic to blast his staff out of his hand and levitate him.

He was moved off the bridge and dropped, Hunter yelling. Flapjack chirped and swooped down to grab him, but Lilith used magic to grab the bird and keep it in place.

"Hunter!" Eda yelled, drawing a shaky spell circle with her staff. Hunter stopped falling a foot above the spikes in the pit. Eda strained to keep him up.

"Eda, stop! You'll run out of magic!" Hunter yelled.

"It's my power, kid. And before you showed up, I spent my whole life wasting it." Eda said. Lilith grinned, summoning a giant hand that pushed Hunter closer to the spikes.

"Eda, no, no, no!" Hunter said, trying desperately to think of something to do, but miserably failing. Eda's gem was almost entirely black, and the whites of her eyes began to be taken over.

"Alright, kid. Listen to me. I'm going away, and I don't know if I can bounce back this time. Watch over King, remembered to feed Hooty." Eda said.

"No..." Hunter said, tears welling in his eyes.

"And Hunter, thank you for being in my life."

With a scream, Eda unleashed a powerful burst of magic. Lilith is pushed back, her spell broken, as Owlbert flew off his staff and picked up Hunter by the cowl, bringing him onto the bridge. Lilith's spell on Flapjack broke, the red cardinal immediately flying back to its owner, who was tearfully staring at Eda, who was now in Owl Beast form.

The Eda-beast growled, advancing on Hunter, before Lilith binded her. Hunter stood up, turning to Lilith with Flapjack in staff form.

"You monster!" He yelled, tears streaming down his cheeks.

He charged forward, throwing down glyphs and shooting blasts of yellow light at Lilith, but she just sidestepped all of them, using magic to teleport behind him.

"Goodnight."

And then he felt something hard against his head and he collapsed, the world fading to black as all he heard were Flapjack's worried and frantic chirps.