"Whoa!"

Hunter was flying around on Flapjack's staff form, trying to learn how to dash while flying without getting discombobulated. He wasn't as good at using glyphs like Lilith was - and Hunter had been using glyphs for a month or two longer than she had. He was a natural fast learner, so maybe his fighting style just wasn't good at cooperating with glyphs.

So, the next best thing was to train with Flapjack.

He dashed forward again, trying to be able to attack a scarecrow with multiple consecutive dashes - but after about an hour of long and grueling training he was too exhausted to pull it off, simply landing a weak smack on scarecrow with his staff, before landing back on the ground. Flapjack chirped, turning to animal form and perching on his shoulder as he headed back inside the Owl House and sitting down at the kitchen.

Eda came in the room, wearing a new red dress that had sleeves now, heading towards the fridge and opening it. Hunter was about to doze off when Eda suddenly yelled.

"Beans!" She exclaimed, making Hunter jolt, eyes wide. She kicked the fridge door closed. "We ran out of apple blood. Still no luck?"

"No. I got frustrated at getting nothing, so I started training with Flapjack - but I'm too tired to even do that." Hunter said, not looking at her. "I read every tome, book, notepad, tea leaf... but nothing explains how to make a portal to the human realm."

"I wish I could help ya, kid." Eda said, sitting down beside him. "My door was already pretty old when I found it."

"How long did you have it?" Hunter asked, looking up at her.

"Well..." Eda started, until they both heard Lilith screaming from the living room.

They quickly sprang up, running into the room, to see feathers popping from Lilith's arms.

"Help me!" Lilith said, panicked.

Eda quickly rushed over, grabbing an elixir from beneath the pillow on the couch, before handing it to Lilith.

"Calm down, just calm down." She said, feeding the potion to Lilith as the feathers fell off her. "The curse acts stronger when you're stressed."

"That was... horrible." Lilith panted. "How have you managed all these years?"

"Well, it's been hard." Eda said. "But since we split the curse, at least the elixirs are working again."

"That's a relief." Lilith said, before screaming again when she realized her left hand was gone.

Hunter covered his ears as she screamed again, Eda just chuckling and bending down to grab Lilith's hand from the floor. She reattached it to Lilith.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Side affect of the curse. It's actually fun once in a while." Eda said. "Now don't worry. I've stashed elixirs all over the house. Whenever you start feeling feathery, just help yourself to one of these bad boys."

"I had no idea this is what I did to you. I'm so sorry." Lilith said with a regretful and sorrowful tone.

"Eh, at least I got company now." Eda said, handing Lilith another potion. "And you got me if you need anything."

She patted Lilith's shoulder before walking out of the house, Hunter following after few moments.

"As I was saying, I've had the portal door for years." Eda said, the two of them standing outside. "But I originally just found it in the dirt. Never figured out who made it or where it came from. I just kept it to myself."

"Why wouldn't you tell anyone?" Hunter asked.

"Why? Suddenly curious about my past?" Eda asked, raising an eyebrow. Hunter looked down at the floor, scratching his neck as his ears went red. Flapjack twittered.

"Well, I may have been using it to hide from someone." Eda said finally.

"Hide from who?" Hunter asked, looking back up.

"Probably me!"

They turned, a giant gust of wind blowing towards them as a tornado came towards them. Hunter's eyes widened. Soon, the tornado stopped, a woman who looked older than and a lot like Eda stepped forward, the tornado disappearing.

"Hello, little witchlet." She said, walking forwards towards Eda with oustretched arms. "Come here."

"Gwendolyn." Eda said, stopping the woman by putting a hand on her head.

"Are we still on that? I'm your mother. Call me 'mom'." Gwendolyn said. Hunter was surprised at that, but did nothing but just awkwardly stand there as Eda and Gwendolyn talked.

"It's so good to see you again." Gwendolyn said, squeezing Eda's cheeks. "How are you feeling? Are you eating well? I heard all about the petrification ceremony. Trust me, I have a lot of strong words for that Belos."

Lilith ran over, seemingly excited. "Mother! Mother, you know, I was there too."

"Oh, hello to you too, sweet flea." Gwendolyn said, touching Lilith's hair. "Still dyeing your hair, I see. Well, it's very sleek. Now give me a moment with Edalyn, dear. It's very important."

Lilith looked surprised, but dejectedly backed off.

"That's right! Today, I am about to complete a 30-year mission." Gwendolyn said. Eda just stared, annoyed. "Your mother has finally succeeded. Today, I shall be curing your curse!"

She summoned her staff, spinning it and jabbing it on the ground theatrically. Eda used her pinky finger to dig into her ear.

"No thanks." She said calmly.

"What?!" Lilith and Hunter said in unison - even Flapjack twittered, shocked.

"I said, 'no thanks'. I got my elixir system. I'm good." Eda said.

"But... But who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" Gwendolyn pleaded.

"Actually, I do. And..." Eda grabbed Gwendolyn's staff, making her sit on her own staff. "Would you look at the time! I got a lot to do today. So sad to see you go. Okay, bye!"

She slapped Gwendolyn's staff and sent her flying away, before dusting off her hands. "Moms, am I right?"

"I haven't seen Mother in forever! And she was handing you a cure on a silver platter!" Lilith yelled, frustrated.

"I'd kill to see my mom right now, and you just launch yours into the sky?!" Hunter asked, utterly shocked.

"Oh, listen, she comes around every year, toting a new cure for my curse." Eda said, walking back into the Owl House. "But they never work, so I am done getting my hopes up."

"Mother visits Edalyn... regularly?" Lilith muttered to herself in disbelief, following Eda back into the Owl House.

Hunter looked to the left, seeing Gwendolyn land and walk away sadly. He frowned, wanting to do something, but decided it was none of his business and kept out of it, moving to follow Eda back inside.

However, just as he was about to reenter the Owl House, Gwendolyn called out to him.

"Wait! Um, blonde boy?" She said. Hunter turned, confused, before walking up to her.

"Um, yeah? Also, it's Hunter." He said.

"I've never seen you before when I visit Eda. But you do seem a little familiar..." Gwendolyn said.

"Uh, yeah... I have a lot of wanted posters." Hunter said.

"Hm... well, I've seen the wanted posters, but I feel like I've seen you from somewhere else..." She said, but then shook her head. "Nevermind, that's not what I called you here for. You know that Edalyn's... well, very stubborn. But it was the curse that created the rift between us."

Hunter nodded. "Yeah. My own mom - well, my adoptive mom - has an actual rift between us since she's in the Human Realm." He said.

"Human Realm? Hm..." Gwendolyn said, before gasping. "You know, I have an idea. Originally I was going to ask you a favor, but now I can give you some knowledge that may assist you getting back to the Human Realm in exchange for your help. Help me cure Edalyn's curse and that information is yours."

Hunter fiddled with his fingers, thinking it over.

On one hand, he really shouldn't be meddling into Eda's business. It was her life, and he didn't have any right to just suddenly try to solve all of her problems when she didn't want any help.

But on the other hand... Hunter was itching for a chance to help Eda out with her curse. Since he'd failed to steal the Healing Hat and had instead gotten himself captured, he wanted to find some other way to help with the curse. Plus, he would be getting more information on making a portal back to the Human Realm! This was an opportunity he couldn't just turn down.

"Deal." Hunter said. "Where do we start?"

"We'll be consulting someone very special." Gwendolyn said, holding her necklace as the rune on it started flashing.

The two of them began walking through the forest soon after.

"So, we're going to meet a curse expert?" Hunter asked.

"Yes, after years of dealing with the Healing Coven, I finally found someone who promised me a cure." Gwendolyn said, before stopping. "Ah! Here we are."

The two of them stood before a stone door. Gwendolyn walked up to it, displaying her necklace. The door flashed before opening up, revealing a cave. Inside, an old witch with four hands sat on an altar. A gremlin with boils on his eyelids knelt in front of him.

"Please, they're so itchy." The gremlin pleaded.

The old witch waved his hand, casting a spell circle. A circle of purple light surrounded the gremlin, lifting him up. The light then flashed - and after that, the gremlin was healed. Hunter's eyes widened a little surprised, while Gwendolyn just smiled after her gasp. The gremlin was slowly lowered back onto the ground.

"Boils, they're... they're gone! Thank you, Wortlop. Thank you." The gremlin said, running away while crying happily.

"That's Master Wortlop. He's a traveling curse expert who's perfected next-level healing magic." Gwendolyn said. Hunter wasn't exactly sure about all this, but decided to just go along - he'd only been in the Demon Realm for a month and a few weeks.

Wortlop madea gesture for Gwendolyn to step forward, and she did so, but not before handing her staff to Hunter. Flapjack chirped, voicing it's concerns regarding the situation.

"You and me both, Flapjack." Hunter whispered back, unease in his gut. He didn't know why, but he didn't like this one bit.

Gwendolyn knelt before Wortlop.

"Gwendolyn, my pupil. Your aura is shining bright." Master Wortlop said.

"It took many months, but I was able to gather the sacred items you requested." Gwendolyn said, taking out an egg, dagger and chalice. "The copper egg from the Snowy Rib Cage, the silver dagger from the Swampy Toes, and the golden chalice from the desert of Palm Stings.

"You're a dedicated mother, aren't you?" Wortlop replied, before summoning a tome out of thin air and passing it to Gwendolyn. "Inside this tome is the healing ability you seek. But keep it away from the eyes of non-believers, for many will be blinded by the power it holds."

That sounded like a bunch of red flags to Hunter.

Gwendolyn simply stared at the tome in awe before standing up and bowing to Wortlop. "I understand. I am in your debt, Master Wortlop."

She turned around, walking away with Hunter, out of the cave. Hunter didn't look back at all, wanting to just get out of there.

+.*.+

They stood outside the Owl House, Gwendolyn driving a sign into the ground while Hunter wrote 'APPLE BLOOD' and drew an arrow pointing away from the house. Then, they walked into the forest, where Hunter had just tied up a rope.

Gwendolyn landed on a stone from her own palisman staff. "Nice work, Hunter. With Wortlop's tome and your ability to lure Eda out of the house, we'll be curing that curse in no time."

"Yeah, Eda's constantly craving apple blood." Hunter said. He paused, before speaking again. "So... that Wortlop guy was... something. You're his pupil?"

"Oh, yes." Gwendolyn said, looking up from the tome. "But first, I had to prove that I was worthy of his secrets. So I spent the last year on a bunch of dangerous quests. And I didn't even get that many scars."

She flashed her bicep muscles to prove the point. Hunter just stared.

"Uh... good for you, I guess...?" Hunter said. He wasn't very good at this...

Thankfully, someone stepped on a stick and caused leaves to rustle, saving Hunter from the awkward situation he was previously in.

"Our signs must have worked." Gwendolyn said with a gasp, before running away with Hunter to hide.

Eda followed the signs into the woods, as Gwendolyn and Hunter watched from the treetops above, mounted on their palismen.

"Oh baby, it's time to stock up on Mam's night juice." Eda said.

"According to Wortlop's tome, we start by lowering the beast's defenses with special crystals. And they're supposed to be quite calming." Gwendolyn muttered quietly to Hunter, as Eda narrowly missed a falling crystal. Eda spun her staff to destroy the rest, before narrowly missing another one.

"Knife season came early this year." Eda said, staring at the ground oddly. A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up, screaming and jumping back, just barely dodging a particular large crystal. She lay on the ground, shocked, before feathers sprouted from her.

Hunter gasped, grabbing an elixir and moving to throw the potion to her, when Gwendolyn put her hand on his wrist.

"Oh, no, no, no. The texts say those feathers mean we're driving the beast out." She said. Hunter slumped slightly.

"Oh." He glanced back and forth between the elixir and Eda worriedly, unsure.

"Don't worry. After today, Eda will never have to drink those nasty little things again." Gwendolyn said. Hunter sighed, before slowly nodding and putting away the elixir.

"Alright.. what next?" Hunter asked.

"Next, we're gonna put that beast on ice." Gwendolyn said, releasing a puff of smoke from her bag. It formed a face, the cloud spouting ice from its mouth.

+.*.+

Eda was climbing up a cliff in the forest, grunting.

"This... better be... the oldest, strongest, stinkiest apple blood ever." She said, looking up over the top of the cliff to see another sign saying 'IT'S REALLY THAT GOOD!'. She groaned in frustration, before begrudgingly kept on walking, but accidentally slipped on some gooey substance.

She managed to balance herself after yelping, before looking down at her shoes and groaning. "I just stole these."

She continued walking, before screaming as she accidentally stepped into a trap covered in leaves, flung upwards. She then fell down rapidly, landing in a bush. She summoned her staff to her.

"Help mama up." She said simply.

"Mrs. Clawthorne - we tried freezing the curse out, we tried sweating the curse out, we tried... flying snakes, for some reason?" Hunter said, turning to Gwendolyn as Eda ran from some flying snakes as if on cue. "But I don't think this stuff is working. Did Wortlop ever say where he learned all this?"

"Yes, I'm sending it right away." Gwendolyn said into a crow phone, which cawed and flew a little near her.

"What did you just do?" Hunter asked, feeling really unsure and squinting at Gwendolyn.

"It turns out the ancient tome is only the first of a series." She said, slipping some gems in a pouch before handing it to the crow. "So, I'm trading in a few paltry family heirlooms to get the rest."

She flipped open the book to read.

"...Let me take a look at it." Hunter said after a bit, walking over on the tree branch. Gwendolyn stopped him.

"Halt. Only people who have scaled Wortlop's 'Pyramid of Study' can touch the tome." She said, displaying her necklace. Hunter sneakily used a plant glyph to grab the tome and drop it in his hands. "Hey!"

"What is this? 'Jar of bees for existential dread'? 'Aromatherapy for broken legs'? 'Bird songs for sufferers of stuffy noses'?!" He said incredulously as he fliped through the book, before turning to Gwendolyn. "Mrs. Clawthorne, you're being scammed! Wortlop is a fake."

"You really think I'd spend my life savings on a fake?" Gwendolyn shot back, taking back the tome.

"Look, I understand you want what's best for Eda - I do too - but clearly Wortlop's methods aren't working. Plus, they sound ridiculous." Hunter said, taking an elixir out and kneeling down to look at Eda down below. "I'm calling this off."

"Hunter," Gwendolyn grabbed his arm and took the elixir away. "I really thought we were on the same side. According to Wortlop, poison like this is made by healers and potion makers who simply want money." She punctuated her sentence by flipping open the book.

Hunter glared. "Are you serious?! Tonterías, you sound like anti-vaxxers back home!" He sighed, pinching his eyebrows. "Whatever, I'll just get more back at the house."

"I'm afraid that will be a waste of your time."

Gwendolyn's palisman dropped a sack full of elixirs in front of her. "Hawksley cleared out every bottle hours ago."

"What?! Why would you do that?!" Hunter said angrily, standing up and clenching his fists as his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. Flapjack began chirping furiously, just as startled by this.

"Because I am a mother who will do anything for her daughter." Gwendolyn said. She tried to throw the elixir away but Hunter used Flapjack to dash forward and stop her, causing both of them to fall from the tree.

"Ugh." Eda said, throwing a flying snake from her hair. "Woo, this ain't good."

Gwendolyn and Hunter screamed as they landed on a bush behind Eda, the bag of elixirs shattering when they hit the ground. The sound grabbed Eda's attention, and she gasped when she saw the two of them grimacing in pain.

"Hey! What is going on here?" Eda asked, the two of them looking up immediately and getting up from the ground.

"Witchlet." Gwendolyn said, patting a leaf off Eda's shoulder before putting her hand on Hunter's shoulder. "It's okay. Hunter and I are working to heal you."

Hunter glanced up at Eda guiltily, before training his eyes on the ground again. Flapjack chirped, trying to ease the tension but not succeeding.

"What? This was all you?" Eda ask with a growl, feathers popping out of her. "You weren't healing me! You nearly killed me!"

Hunter's eyes widened a little at the feathers, and he held up his hands to try and calm her. "Hey, Eda, please try to stay calm-"

"Why? Why should I be calm? I have a right to be upset!" Eda yelled, her eyes turning black. Before the two of them, she transformed into the Owl Beast, closing in on them while growling.

"Don't worry. According to this, we just have to... uh..." Gwendolyn started, flipping through the book.

"Have to what?" Hunter asked, although his tone towards her was flat and annoyed. The Owl Beast growled a little and he yelped - he didn't have fond memories of that rainy night with the Owl Beast. Gosh, that felt like ages ago...

"Buy the next volume...?" Gwendolyn said sheepishly, showing him the tome. He groaned.

Behind them, Hunter heard the screams of King, and sure enough, the little demon ran through the bush, but yelped with he saw the Eda-beast.

"King?" Hunter said, confused.

"So Lilith was feeling stressed and, uh, the light glyph didn't really work. So, uh... uh... uh..." King stammered, but he didn't need to say anything. A raven beast bounded from behind them, larger than the Eda-beast and looking eerily similar to Lilith.

"She turned into that thing!" King finished, terrified.

"Sweet flea...?" Gwendolyn said, eyes wide and staring up at the Raven Beast. Said Raven Beast then roared, the Owl Beast roaring back as the two rushed towards each other. The Raven Beast picked up the Owl Beast with its talons and flew off.

"That... was my sweet flea?" She said. "That means she's also-"

"Cursed! Yes! Were you not paying any attention to her?" King said, as Hunter mounted Flapjack and King joined him.

"We have to help them. Are you going to come with us?" Hunter asked, looking over at Gwendolyn expectantly.

"This... This must be part of the process, right?" Gwendolyn said with hesitation. Hunter sighed.

"We'll leave you be, then." Hunter said, turning away as he flew himself and King up in the air.

+.*.+

The Owl Beast and Raven Beast were flying through Bonesborough, the Owl Beast trying to escape the Raven Beast but was unable to lose it. Eventually, the Raven Beast managed to catch the Owl Beast and pinned it to the ground, damaging some buildings in the process and causing people to flee in terror.

The Owl Beast kicked the Raven Beast off itself and flew away, the Raven Beast growling and pursuing it again. They continued to fight each other in the air and, eventually, both crashed to the ground. Hunter and King flew in on Flapjack just in time to see this.

Hunter just glanced around frantically, trying to think of some way to return them to normal, and his eyes lit up when he caught sight of Morton's shop. He flew towards it, landing in front of Morton.

"Morton, I need every last elixir you have." Hunter said quickly. Morton gasped happily, and when Hunter moved to check his pockets for snails, he found he had none.

"Uh..." Hunter said, and Morton frowned, noticing his pockets had nothing but glyphs, and no snails. He abruptly closed the panel of his shop.

"Don't worry!"

Hunter looked up to see Gwendolyn flying over, a large bag of snails clasped tightly in her hand. She landed in front of them, spinning her staff.

"Mama's here." She said simply.

+.*.+

King, Hunter and Gwendolyn were watching the Owl Beast and Raven Beast fight atop a roof, on another roof across from the duo.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, are you like, secretly sending us to our deaths?" King said, squinting at her.

"No, I'm making things right." Gwendolyn said sternly. She pulled off her necklace, throwing it down and stepping on it, ensuring that it was broken into pieces. Hunter and King mounted Flapjack once again, flying up into the air as Gwendolyn approached the Raven and Owl Beasts.

"My beautiful daughters, I failed you." She said with a regretful tone. The Owl Beast growled at her, but she put her hand on its hair anyway. "I should've listened to you. I know now why you pushed me away. I made you think your curse was something to be ashamed of. I'm so sorry."

Gwendolyn placed her hand on the Owl Beast's forehead.

"Mom?"

Her eyes widened, realizing the Owl Beast now had Eda's eyes instead of their usual black ones.

"Witchlet!" Gwendolyn said, hugging Eda. The Raven Beast roared, attempting to pounce at Eda, but Eda grabbed its wrist and pulled it down with her claw.

"And Lilith..." Gwendolyn knelt down in front of the Raven Beast. "You were always so self-sufficient."

She caressed the beast's cheek, calming it down. "But I didn't give you the attention you deserved."

Upon hearing that, the Raven Beast started sobbing. Gwendolyn shushed her, pulling the beast into an embrace to calm it down.

"Now!" Gwendolyn yelled up at the sky - where Hunter and King were. They flew towards them from above, King jumping down from the staff and landing on the beasts' ears to pin them down. Hunter, still seating on Flapjack's staff form, opened the elixirs quickly and dumped them into the beasts' mouths.

A cloud of air appeared and surrounded the duo, the strong airflow forcing Gwendolyn to shield her face and blowing King backwards. King almost rolled off the roof, but Hunter landed just in time to catch him. The cloud expanded and flashed brightly, then formed the shape of a bird. Eda and Lilith were pulled upwards, still in their beast forms, until the cloud eventually bursts and gave a bright flash.

Hunter stared at it in awe, but didn't have much time to gawk as Gwendolyn stepped forward. Eda and Lilith descended from above, in their normal witch forms, landing right in Gwendolyn's arms.

Eda opened her eyes and smiled at Gwendolyn. "About time, Mom."

"Mom, I heard you but I couldn't stop myself. I... I couldn't do anything." Lilith sobbed. Gwendolyn hugged her.

"It's okay. Everything is okay now." Gwendolyn said, pulling Eda into the hug too. "I'm here for you both."

Hunter gave a small smile, while King stared at the ground, seemingly coming to a realization.

"She was... trying to do her best, huh?" He said.

Gwendolyn hugged her daughters tight, smiling lovingly as Hunter and King watched from the side, the setting sun swathing them in orange-red glow.

+.*.+

Hunter, King, Eda and Gwendolyn stood outside the Owl House, the sky long dark and twinkling with stars.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused, but I - I just wanted to help." Gwendolyn apologized. "I should've trusted you more."

"Yeah, you should've." Eda said, playfully punching her shoulder. "But, hey, don't be a stranger. Okay, Mom?"

Gwendolyn smiled at her. The door to the Owl House suddenly kicked open, Lilith carrying a bindle on her shoulder.

"Mom! I'm ready!" She said with a happy smile.

"Huh?" Eda said very intelligently.

"Well, we were talking and I've decided to go home with Mother and make up for lost time." Lilith said, walking towards Gwendolyn with a smile. Hunter, Eda, King and Hooty widened their eyes, almost in unison.

"Edalyn, Lilith told me how she gave you the curse." Gwendolyn said with a frown, taking both their hands. "I am so, so sorry to you both, to ahve this secret weighing you down. I wish I knew sooner."

"There's still a lotto be learned about this curse, but... it'll be nice to spend some time home and reconnect with Dad." Lilith said to Eda. Eda looked away at that last part, almost guiltily.

"We'll be away for a while, but we have plenty of elixirs stocked up." Gwendolyn said, taking out some elixirs from her hair as proof, before putting it back.

"No! Lulu, you can't!" Hooty cried, stretching towards Lilith. Lilith touched Hooty's cheek.

"Hootsifer, I have to. But don't worry, we can be penpals." Lilith said, turning around and walking away. Hooty continued to cry.

"But I can't hold a pen!" He sobbed. Gwendolyn turned to Hunter.

"Hunter, if it weren't or you I might still be wrapped up in Wortlop's lies." She said. "So here's what I should've told you from the start. There was once a human who lived in Bonesborough."

"Are you sure you're not talking about my sister, Luz?" Hunter asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure, because this human was a fully grown man. According to what my great-grandmother told me." Gwendolyn said.

"Oh - okay. Continue." Hunter said with a nod.

"Ahem. There's a strange substance called Titan's blood." Gwendolyn explained. "It is extremely powerful and sometimes causes leaks between our realms. Plants, animals... they have a lot of garbage, by the way. But humans are rare. My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library, and if you can find out more about him..."

"...Maybe I could find out how he got here!" Hunter finished, eyes glinting with hope.

"Exactly." Gwendolyn said with a wink. However, she paused. "But I have something else."

Hunter looked at her, curious, as she pulled out a book from her hair. She opened it, revealing a family tree.

"Remember earlier how I said you looked familiar? Well..." She showed him the family tree, pointing at one of the portraits at the very top. "I found out there's a second human who once lived here - and he's a part of the Clawthorne family."

Hunter peered over, and his eyes widened. It was like staring into a mirror - although there were some differences. He had round ears, brown eyes - and didn't have any tooth gap or scar or eye bags. And also, his hair was a little longer, tied into a short, low ponytail. The portrait was labelled. 'CALEB WITTEBANE'.

Flapjack began chirping - whether it was frantic or excited, he couldn't tell. He could understand what Flapjack was saying, but he couldn't really process it, his mind solely focused on the family tree in front of him.

"'Caleb Wittebane'...?" Hunter read aloud, confused. "He looks... eerily like me."

Past owner! Flapjack's voice chirped - however, Hunter was too lost in thought and spiraling questions to comprehend it. And no one else understood the little bird's tweets.

Eda just stood off the side nervously, sweating profusely.

So he's a grimwalker of whoever Caleb Wittebane is... She thought. But how does Belos know about Caleb, and why would he make a grimwalker of him...?

"I don't have much to say or show you other than that, but..." Gwendolyn said, closing the book and stuffing it in her hair. "Perhaps we're related."

Hunter smiled at the thought, but something didn't add up.

"But... how would that make sense...? Caleb's a human, and I'm a witch. And wouldn't I be somewhere on this family tree if I was related to you...?" Hunter said, confused.

Gwendolyn frowned. "I don't have all the answers. But maybe checking out the library would be a good place to start."

Hunter nodded.

Gwendolyn and Lilith waved goodbye, mounting their palismen and flying home. Hooty was still crying.

"Well, I'll be on the couch for the next 24-hours." Eda said, yawning and walking towards the house. "Goodnight."

"No! Wait! I call couch!" King said, scampering over inside the house. Hunter stayed put, however, staring up at the starry night sky with a frown, his head swirling with questions.

Who was Caleb, and how were they connected to that other human Gwendolyn mentioned? Why did Caleb look so much like him? Was he related to him or not? If he was, then what happened to his parents, and how did Belos find him? Why did he decide to take him in? Was Luz okay? Was Camila okay? Would he find anything about that other human in the library to help him get to the Human Realm and show Camila that Luz was alive and well?

His hands squeezed into fists at the thought of Camila. She was probably worried sick. At least he'd managed to tell her that he was okay before he destroyed the portal. And Luz... he'd told her about Manny's death on the day of the petrification ceremony. She couldn't be dealing with that very well.

Flapjack nuzzled him, trying to comfort him, and he gently scratched the cardinal's feathers, still staring at the night sky with a downward spiral of confusion and worry.

+.*.+

Camila sat on her couch, crying - the lights turned on in the living room as she sniffled and wiped her eyes from under her glasses.

"I'm sorry, I just - I'm just so worried." She said, sniffling as she was offered a tissue box. A basilisk sat next to her on the couch, giving her a sad smile.

"It's okay. If I were you, I'd be worried too." The basilisk said, as Camila took another tissue from the box and blew her nose with it.

"Thank you, Vee." She said, moving her hand to rest it on the basilisk's shoulder -but paused just before she touched it, as if asking for permission. Vee gave a slight nod, granting permission, and Camila lay her comforting hand on it. It made Vee feel warm.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Hunter will come back soon. If he's been gone for this long and still managed to survive, he must have some people looking out for him." Vee said. Camila gave a small smile.

"Yeah... yeah. He must have."