King stared the crystal ball, tears welling up in his eyes. He'd gotten impatient at Eda or Hunter not arriving, so he decided maybe checking the crystal ball would help.

Well, it did. But now he shaking with his tears and sobs.

Both Hunter and Eda were captured, and Eda was in Owl Beast form - most likely forever.

Hooty had wrapped himself around King gently, knowing that now was a serious moment.

When King finally felt ready to wipe his tears and move, he felt determined. He grabbed the Witch's Wool cloak and stuffed it in a fanny pack - Hunter would need it, because King was going to rescue them. He also grabbed some glyphs just in case.

He grabbed a book, deciding that he needed information on Belos and the Emperor's Coven before heading in there.

"The Boiling Isles, born from the flesh and bones of a fallen Titan. This original magic was potent, all life on the Isles evolved to use magic as well. For years, we explored this power freely. Until, a mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island." King read. "He said that we were using magic all wrong. His teachings took hold, his strength grew, and he became... Emperor Belos. Belos said that mixing magic was wrong, that only he had that right. So he created the coven system. And there, our knowledge was restricted, and our potential sealed away. Those who resist are called wild witches, and they face harsh punishment. Emperor Belos has since retreated into his castle. There are whispers that say he's planning something big."

King put the book away, pacing back and forth.

There has to be some way I can sneak in and rescue them, he thought. Hooty swung the door open, revealing Owlbert had flown all the way here. King's eyes widened.

Owlbert warbled, flying over to King and hooting frantically.

"Yeah I found out about them being captured. And I'm going to save them." King said determinedly. Owlbert turned into staff form at those words, landing in King's paws.

"Yes! I shall be the first demon to wield a palisman!" He yelled triumphantly, lightly tapping the staff against the ground.

He turned to Hooty. "I'll be back - with Eda and Hunter." He said, heading out the door and mounting Eda's staff.

+.*.+

In the throne room, Lilith and the Eda-beast were blowing raspberries and sticking tongues at each other, Hunter wrapped in rope binds, unconscious.

However, the doors started opening. Six coven guards and Kikimora entered.

"All kneel before Emperor Belos!" She called, bowing and moving away from the door. Lilith kneeled.

A pair of glowing blue eyes approached from the darkness, revealing Emperor Belos. The Eda-beast shrieked and bursted out of the bubble Lilith had her trapped in, running towards Belos.

"Eda, no!" Lilith called.

Belos vanished before the Eda-beast could attack him, appearing behind her and throwing her against the wall by lifting his finger. The Eda-beast fell to the ground, glowing red ropes appearing to keep her down. Lilith quickly ran between the Eda-beast and Belos' shadow.

"My Lord, I apologize for my sister's rash behavior. She's still in her cursed form. Once you've healed her, as promised, I am sure she will become a useful asset to the coven!" Lilith said quickly.

Emperor Belos summoned his staff and raised it, healing Eda only to the point of granting her coherent speech.

"Ah. Where am I? What is this? Aw farts, I got caught." Eda said.

"Edalyn Clawthorne, the infamous Owl Lady, the wild witch of Bonesborough." Emperor Belos said, turning a little to look at Hunter, unconscious and binded. It also allowed Eda to see him, and she immediately tried to break free from her binds to protect him. "Mentor of Hunter, the previous Golden Guard."

Eda's eyes widened at that, but she growled, her protectiveness over Hunter being more important than the new revelation.

"You stay away from him, or so help me, Titan..." Eda growled.

"Unfortunately, that won't be possible. Well, unfortunate for you." Emperor Belos said. "Now. Where is the portal he came through?"

"I ain't telling you nothing!" Eda snapped.

"Ugh, pity." Emperor Belos said. "Although I suppose I could ask Hunter himself."

Belos snapped his fingers, and the guards ran in to drag Eda away, who tried to break free but wasn't able to.

"Wait! Don't touch him! Lilith, don't let him hurt him! Lilith!" Eda cried as she was dragged away, the door slamming behind her. Lilith turned to Emperor Belos.

"Ah, taking her to the healing ceremony?" She asked.

"I will not be healing her." Emperor Belos said simply. Lilith eyes widened.

"But, you, promised me." She spluttered out, stunned.

"Don't be so naive, Lilith. This is the Titan's will. All wild witches must be dealt with before the Day of Unity. You understand, don't you?" Emperor Belos said.

After some hesitancy, Lilith responded. "Of course..."

"Good." Belos said, walking away, leaving Lilith staring after him.

+.*.+

"Perry Porter coming to you live from outside the Emperor's Castle. Edalyn Clwathorne, known commonly as 'Eda the Owl Lady', has been captured and brought before the emperor." The reporter on a crystal ball said.

"For the crime of attacking a coven leader and refusing to join a coven, Edalyn Clawthorne's body shall be petrified in stone! Today, sundown, at the Conformatorium." Kikimora said through the screen.

"And it also appears that the previous Golden Guard has been found after 11 years! More details will be given as we recieve them." Perry porter finished. The crowd around crystal balls on the street dispersed, revealing King watching.

"Petrification is only done to the worst criminals, and once the spell is complete, it can't be reversed." King muttered to himself with worried, wide eyes. "I have to be quick."

He looked around, noticing a 'DO NOT STEP ON GRASS' sign. King immediately bounded over and stepped on it, calling coven guards over to arrest him.

It worked, because now King was secured in a paddy wagon.

"Perfect plan." He said to himself.

+.*.+

Hunter's eyes slowly opened, hearing Flapjack's chirps, and tried to sit up - but he was tied up and couldn't move his arms. He looked around, and realized he was in the throne room. And he wasn't alone.

Thankfully, instead of the Emperor being there, that guard with a golden owl-like mask and white cloak was standing before him. Hunter's eyes widened and he tried to scoot away - he recognized that mask from somewhere, but he didn't know where.

However, the guard took off their mask to reveal Luz.

"Luz?" He said, as Flapjack began pecking at his binds.

"Hey, Hunter." Luz said, helping him up once Flapjack had broke his binds. "I know it must be hard with Eda being captured and everything, but its better this way. She's a wild witch. Wild magic is dangerous."

Hunter's hands went clammy.

"Where's Eda?" He asked, hoping against hope that she was okay.

"Well... she's fine, but she's going to be petrified at sundown." Luz answered hesitantly.

"What's petrification?" Hunter asked, dread swelling in his throat. Please don't be what I think it is...

Luz winced. "Well... um... it's okay, you can live here in the castle with me! If you really want, that dog can even stay here, I might be able to convince Belos and-"

"Luz." Hunter said, placing a hand on her shoulder, gripping tight. "What is petrification?"

Luz looked away, lightly pushing Hunter's hand off her shoulder. "She'll be turned to stone... forever."

Hunter's eyes widened, and he started breathing rapidly.

"No no no, she can't - she can't die!" Hunter said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I have to go rescue her!" Luz put a hand on his shoulder gently.

"I'm sorry Hunter, but..." She summoned her staff. "I can't let you do that."

Hunter backed away, shoving her hand off his shoulder. Flapjack chirped, turning into staff form.

"Luz, I don't want to fight you!" Hunter yelled.

"And I don't either! But you have to accept that Eda's as good as gone now!" Luz yelled back, tears welling up in her own eyes. Hunter shook his head, taking another step back. He glanced at the door, considering a break for it, but Luz seemed to read his mind, because with a flash of red, she dashed in front of the door, holding her artificial staff up.

"Please, let me through!" He said. Luz shook her head.

"I'm sorry Hunter. This is for your own good." She said sorrowfully. Hunter gripped his staff tighter, and dashed forward, trying to get past her, but she easily used her staff to send a shockwave that blasted him backwards, but not enough to sweep him off his feet or injure him.

He gritted his teeth, and mounted his staff, flying around and dashing multiple times, trying to dodge Luz's restraints. He managed to get close enough to the door to reach for it, but Luz quickly used magic to levitate him away form it. He landed with a thud on the ground, grunting.

He didn't have any glyphs on him, otherwise he would've used them - but he doubted that would've helped anyways. He didn't want to hurt Luz, and she was a lot more skilled and powerful than he was at fighting - not to mention, she was dead set on keeping him from escaping the castle to rescue Eda.

"Luz, please! I can't lose another parental figure!" Hunter said, tears streaming down his cheeks. Luz's eyes widened, lowering her staff.

"What do you mean, 'another'?" Luz asked. Hunter's eyes widened.

That's right. Luz went missing a year before Manny died...

Luz walked closer, cautiously, as Hunter fell to his knees, Flapjack turning to animal form. He had no intention of fighting anymore. Luz kneeled down next to him.

"Hunter... did something happen to Mom or Dad while I was gone?" Luz asked, worried. Hunter didn't say anything - just pulled Luz into an embrace and sobbed into her shoulder.

"Manny... he..." He started, but couldn't say anything else, just crying into her shoulder, shaking. Luz slowly wrapped her own arms around Hunter, dropping her artificial staff as tears welled into her own eyes.

For a few moments they just sat there, hugging each other and crying into the other's shoulder, until finally they pulled away, wiping their tears and sniffling.

"He got sick. He spent weeks in the hospital, and then... he was gone." Hunter said with shaky breaths. Luz stared at the ground.

"I understand. I..." She sniffled, standing up and grabbing her staff. "...I'll let you go save Eda."

Hunter got up, eyes wide, and gave Luz another hug.

"Thank you."

He pulled away quickly though, Flapjack chirping and perching on his shoulder. With a wave, he walked out of the throne room doors, Luz waving back.

After running through the halls (and barely managing to get past a group of guards), he managed to fly out a window on Flapjack. He made sure to go high up so that no one would be able to see him, and landed on the ground, covering his school uniform cowl over him. He couldn't believe that he'd been on a school trip just before this.

But... how long had he even been out? It couldn't have been more than a day, seeing as Eda was captured just before he was knocked unconscious. Which, by the way, he was going to get revenge on Lilith for later on.

He stumbled across a crystal ball, showing the news feed, as Gus' dad continued talking about Eda's petrification in the Conformatorium. He noted the location, and got on his staff again, heading in the direction of the Conformatorium.

+.*.+

The paddy wagon passed by petrified wild witches, which King stared at. He gasped, noticing two guards bringing out a pedestal with Eda's name on it.

"There's not gonna be a new statue going up today." King muttered to himself and Owlbert, who sat in King's paws.

The paddy wagon continued on, entering the Conformatorium proper. A gate closed behind it, and the wagon backed into a docking station.

"Sir, the Owl Lady's dog has been apprehended." A guard said.

"Very good. Ah, King the rat. How I've waited to see you again. Now I'll have my revenge and you'll have front row seats to Eda's demise." Warden Wrath said, opening the paddy wagon doors but getting bombarded with branches. He screamed.

"Huh?" The guard said, as King ran out, slamming an ice glyph on the ground with a yell - a spear of ice pinned the guard to the ceiling.

Wrath shoved away from the branches, but was overtaken by several ice pillars. King walked up to him, Eda's staff in hand. Despite his size, he somehow managed to look threatening.

"Where's Eda?" King asked coldly.

"She's in the holding cell in the dungeon." Warden Wrath answered quickly.

"Draw me a map!" King yelled, holding out a piece of paper and a pen.

+.*.+

An audience was gathered around the Conformatorium, with the crowd voicing their concerns amongst each other.

"Do you really think Eda deserves a petrification?" One person asked.

"I don't know. This is all happening so fast." Another said.

"If we know anything about Hunter, he's going to be here trying to save Eda." Willow said to Gus.

"And we'll be here to save him when he needs us!" Gus said.

"That's if he isn't captured inside the Emperor's Castle..." Willow said, but then shook her head. She needed to be positive. "Let's split up and find him."

+.*.+

Hunter flew into a window, entering a hallway in the Conformatorium. However, he noticed all the guards were already dealt with. Two were hanging from vines on the ceiling - one was collapsed, his legs the only thing seen from the mess of vines - a fourth was holding his hands in front of a fire, and the fifth was encased in ice.

"Hunter!"

He turned to see King, running up to him with teary eyes. King leaped into his arms, the two of them hugging each other tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay - I saw on that crystal ball that you and Eda got captured and I - I-" King rambled, but Hunter interrupted him.

"Hey, its okay - I'm fine. Let's rescue Eda." Hunter said, and King nodded.

"Wait." King said, opening his fanny pack. Inside was the Witch's Wool cloak, and he handed it to Hunter. "Eda and I wanted to surprise you with it. But you got captured, and everything went wrong."

Hunter held it in his hands, staring at it in awe. "Thanks, King." He said, giving him a pat, before putting it on over his Hexside uniform.

"You're still wearing the uniform?" King asked, commenting on that.

"It's not like I had the opportunity to change my attire." Hunter said with an eye roll. "Anyway, let's go."

The two approached a padlocked door, and King put an ice glyph on the lock, watching as it froze over and broke.

"King, watch the door." Hunter said, and King saluted, handing him some spare glyphs as Hunter entered the room, pulling out a light glyph.

He heard a familiar growling that he knew was the Eda-beast.

"Eda? Eda!" He said, running forwards and seeing the Eda-beast chained. However, the beast's wing twitched, shoving Hunter backwards. The beast turned and growled at him, pouncing for the attack.

"Eda, wait! It's me." Hunter said, holding the light glyph to the beast. The Eda-beast closed its eyes, and when its eyes opened, it was Eda's normal eyes.

"Hunter, you're okay! Wait..." She said, relieved, but then as she looked around the room she grew worried and frantic. "Oh no. Oh, no no no no no, wh-what are you doing here?"

"It's okay, I'm here to save you!" Hunter said, pulling out a fire glyph and activating it against the chain holding Eda. However, it did nothing.

"Your magic isn't strong enough for this. You need to leave, now!" Eda said, worried.

"I can't! It's my fault you needed to save me. It's my fault you got captured!" Hunter said, trying and failing again and again to use the fire glyph on the chain.

"No. Listen to me. I'm here because of my own actions. I went against Belos' law, and for a while I was able to get away with it. But..." Eda sighed. "Well without magic, I can't do much. I don't regret anything. I got to live freely and... I got to meet you."

"Eda..."

"But if you stay here, I won't be able to protect you. You need to leave. Now!" She said.

"But... but..." Hunter eyes welled up with tears.

Eda used her claw to ruffle his hair one last time, before pulling out the portal key. She activated it, and the portal door rose out of the floor. It opened, revealing the same path Hunter had been walking to the abandoned house on and gotten pushed inside the Boiling Isles.

"You have a family already. Go back to them. And when you're home, use your fire magic to destroy the portal door." Eda said, placing the key around Hunter's neck. "I don't know why Belos wants it, but we can't take any chances."

Hunter tucked the key under his cloak and hugged Eda. "I love you, Eda."

Eda's own eyes teared up at that. "Love you too, kiddo."

A siren blared, as a door in the ceiling opened.

"Hunter, get away!" Eda yelled, pushing Hunter as the chain on her glowed blue and transformed into a cage. The ground beneath started to rise.

"No!" Hunter yelled, grabbing hold of Eda's claw. "Not yet!"

"I'm sorry." Eda said, pushing him off as he fell down on the ground. "Goodbye, Hunter."

"Eda!" Hunter yelled, as Eda was out of sight and the siren stopped blaring. He was on his knees, burying his face in his hands as he sobbed.

Suddenly, the door opened, Lilith walking in with King in her arms.

"Drat!" Lilith said. King tried to wriggle free. "I'm too late. At least I found you, though."

Hunter got up and turned with a glare filled with so much hurt and fury that Lilith physically took a step back.

"You." He said, Flapjack turning to staff form as he got out some glyphs in his other hand. He dashed forward, slamming down any and all glyphs he had in his possession.

Lilith quickly dropped King to block his spells with her staff. "I just want to talk!"

"Talk to the glyph, witch!" Hunter yelled, slamming down a plant glyph. Five vines shot out of the ground, trying to ensnare Lilith, but she used her staff to destroy the vines easily. However, Hunter just used that as a distraction to leap onto her from behind and punch her repeatedly.

Unknowingly, they both accidentally wandered into the still open portal door. King gasped following them through. "Hunter!"

Hunter and Lilith fell off the porch of the abandoned house, King following a second later. Hunter managed to recover first, looking at the forest they'd landed in as a breeze went by and his cape billowed in the wind. Lilith got up, her hands glowing blue.

"Hunter, watch out!" King yelled, before getting pulled to the ground by vines.

Hunter quickly dived out of the way of her spell, pulling out a fire glyph, but his eyes widened when it just crumbled to dust upon being activated. However, Lilith tackled him.

"Please, just listen to me!" Lilith pleaded.

"No! You deserve to be petrified, not Eda!" Hunter yelled. Lilith backed away, frowning.

"You're right. I deserve to be in Edalyn's place." Lilith said.

"Why did you do all of this?" Hunter asked, Flapjack returning to animal form and perching on his shoulder.

"When Edalyn and I were younger, we were the best of friends." Lilith said. "Being in the Emperor's Coven was my dream. I wanted to work alongside the most powerful witch in the Boiling Isles and make the world a better place. Eda wanted to be with me, but there was a problem. There was only one spot available, so we'd have to duel for the position. I knew Edalyn would beat me. She was younger, but worked twice as hard. She met me at my level. Emperor Belos always said, 'To be great, you have to make sacrifices'. What would he do in my situation? I found a spell that would take away her powers."

Lilith stared at the ground, continuing. "I thought it would just be for a day. The day of the duel, Edalyn refused to fight me for the position. And as she walked away... she turned into the Owl Beast. I made my sacrifice for the emperor, and it was time to receive my reward."

She sighed. "I've been pursuing Edalyn because if she joined the Emperor's Coven, Emperor Belos told me he would heal her curse. But he lied to me. I know how to rescue Edalyn, but I can't do it alone."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Hunter asked.

Owlbert flew off the staff in King's paw, perching on Lilith's shoulder.

"...Well, Owlbert seems to trust me." Lilith said. Hunter sighed.

"Look, I don't like you, but we need your help to save Eda." Hunter said. Lilith gave a small smile.

"Thank you."

"But, once this is all over, you tell me any information you have on my past." Hunter said, as the vines around King vanished. Lilith's eyes widened.

"You... don't remember anything?" Lilith asked. Hunter shook his head. "Alright, I'll tell you what I know after all this. But I wasn't exactly close with you back then, so don't expect much."

Lilith went through the door, and King turned to do the same, but turned to see Hunter staring longingly at the forest in the distance.

"Hey Hunter, you... need a minute?" King asked. Hunter shook his head, turning back.

"No, I'm coming." He said, and the two entered the Demon Realm, Hunter closing the door behind him.

+.*.+

"I don't see Hunter anywhere." Willow said, worried.

"Do you think he's back in the castle?" Gus asked, before an alarm sounded and a caged Eda rose onto a towering platform in front of the crowd.

"Well folks, Eda the Owl Lady has appeared on stage, which means the petrification process is about to begin." Perry Porter said.

Kikimora finished rising along with the cage, walking forward and pushing a lever, making a three-headed statues rise from the ground. Beast Eda looked nervous as the machine crackled to power.

+.*.+

"You can take this up to the stage where they're holding Edalyn." Lilith said, gesturing to a small platform.

"Thanks, Lilith. What will you do now?" Hunter asked.

"I will stay in the Emperor's Coven, but I will make sure nothing like this ever happens again." Lilith said.

"That's good to hear." Hunter said, before pausing and looking around. "Wait, why are there no guards?"

A red tendril wrapped itself around Lilith's legs, pulling her down. She screamed. King screamed as well, also getting pulled by a red tendril.

"Lilith! King!" Hunter yelled.

Both of them were dragged up near the ceiling before being suspended on either side of the wall. Fire ignited below them, flanking a skull-like throne Emperor Belos was sitting in, staff in hand.

"Ah, Lilith. You chose the wrong side." Belos said, as the two of them were pulled upwards.

"No!" Hunter yelled in horror, pushing past his fear to try and walk forward, but two red arms erupted from the ground and grabbed his legs, making him fall on his knees.

"Ah. I'd actually like to have a word with you, Hunter." Belos said, turning to him. Hunter shivered at hearing the Emperor say his name in that cold, conniving voice of his.

Hunter pried the arms off his legs, standing up. "Let my friends go, or else!" He yelled, but he backed away, contradicting his words. Belos seemed to notice.

"Come now, Hunter, are you really afraid of your uncle?" Belos asked, walking closer, advancing on him.

Is that why he wanted me so badly? Because I'm his nephew? Hunter thought. The memory of him getting his scar flashed in and out of his vision. Even so, he's the one who gave me this scar. And I'm afraid of him more than I've ever been afraid of something else. He can't be trustworthy - and besides, he's trying to petrify Eda!

"S-Stay back!" Hunter yelled, backing up into a wall, gripping his staff tighter. Belos didn't listen, his shadow cast on Hunter's terrified face. The Emperor's eyes landed on the palisman staff Hunter wielded, before looking back at Hunter.

"Should've known you'd be a lost cause after 11 years. No matter, I'll move on to the next." Belos said - none of the words in that sentence made any sense to hunter, however. Hunter's eyes widened as Belos lifted his finger, levitating Hunter and throwing him against the base of a towering statue.

A crack traveled up the statue, until it freed the giant two-headed axe, which Hunter just barely dodged by dashing out of the way with a flash of yellow. Spikes of earth shot up around him, and Hunter quickly slammed down fire glyphs to combat them. A giant red hand reached for him, but he quickly activated an ice glyph, encasing the limb.

Hunter mounted Flapjack to avoid more spikes, fire glyphs in hand, when a giant worm monster erupted from the ground. Hunter screamed as the monster closed its mouth around him, but only a moment later and it exploded due to the fire glyphs.

Hunter landed on the ground, panting, wide eyes darting around the room, searching for any other attacks Belos might send his way.

"I'm surprised you've lasted this long, seeing as you're younger and less skilled than the others." Belos' voice resounded through the room, and Hunter hated how he could hear him but not see him. He was confused by what Belos said, but was too focused on staying alive than whatever cryptic words the man had to say.

Red arms grabbed his legs and arms, pulling him to the ground. Belos stepped in front of him, menacing blue eyes glowing in the dark of his mask's eyeholes.

"Any last words?" Belos asked. Hunter was shaking - he desperately didn't want to die, he didn't want Eda to die, he didn't want to leave King alone and his friends mournful-

"No? Alright, then." Belos raised his arm, and it transformed into a sharp scythe, but Hunter's eyes widened.

"WAIT!"

Belos pasued, staring down at him with those threateningly blue eyes.

"I... I want to make a deal!" Hunter said quickly. Belos lowered his arm, intrigued.

"What kind of deal?"

"I'll give you the portal door, and in exchange you let me and Eda go!" Hunter said. After a few agonizingly long moments, the red arms restraining Hunter sank back into the ground.

"Fine. Hand it over." Belos said, reaching a hand towards him. Hunter got up and dusted himself off, hiding the portal key behind his back and pressing the button. The door appeared, but it was folded up in the form of a suitcase. He hugged it to his chest.

"Lo siento, mama." He muttered, before handing it over to Belos. "Here."

Belos took it, but Hunter took a few seconds before completely letting go. Hunter walked onto the platform Lilith had shown him earlier, and Belos tapped his staff against the ground, making the platform rise.

"Go on then. Go be a hero." Emperor Belos said in a condescending tone. Hunter gripped his staff a little tighter.

"I may have lost, but so have you." Hunter said, and he tapped his staff against the platform. It activated some fire glyphs he'd put on the portal door, destroying it. He glared down at Belos, who glared back, but the former was still shaking a little as he was carried out of the chamber.

Hunter rose in between the cage and the petrification machine, grabbing a plant glyph and throwing it against the base of the machine. Vines burst out of the glyph, rocking the machine to the side, stopping it. Hunter looked back to the cage to see a partially pertrified Eda, who was in beast form but still able to speak, and Lilith and King.

"Wh-what do we do?!" King yelled.

"The spell wasn't completed! Maybe I can help her fight it!" Lilith said, putting her hand on Eda's wing.

"No! What's happening?" Kikimora said, before Hunter walked up to her, hood up. He had a fire glyph ready in one hand and his staff in the other.

"Free them, now!" Hunter commanded, and Kikimora quickly traced a spell circle to do just that - not wanting to get burned.

The cage disappeared, and Hunter ran to Eda.

"Eda, are you okay?" He asked. The stone receded from her body, and she opened her eyes.

"As good as I'll ever be." Eda said. Coven guards, holding spears, surrounded them. Hunter prepared himself for a fight, but Eda flung him and King on her back.

"Let's fly." Eda said, as Lilith climbed on in front of the two. Eda flew into the sky, coven guards trying to take aim with their spears but missing by a long shot. Flapjack turned back from staff form and he pet the cardinal, still a little shaken from narrowly avoiding death.

+.*.+

They finally arrived at the Owl House, everyone dismounting as Eda panted.

"I'll go run and get some elixir, and-" Hunter said quickly, but Lilith stopped him.

"No. No amount of elixir can help her now. Oh, sister." Lilith said to Hunter, before turning to Eda and cupping her face in her hands. "I should have done this a long time ago."

She held her forehead to Eda's. "With this spell declared, let the pain be shared."

Lilith and the Eda-beast glowed blue and hovered in the air, their gems glowing as Eda returned to her human form. Hunter and King shielded their eyes from the light, and when the light was gone they saw that each of their eyes has turned gray. Eda had a streak of white in her hair while Lilith had a streak of gray in hers. However, Eda's gem was still black.

Hunter and King ran over to Eda, hugging her tightly as she chuckled.

"Can you still do magic?" Hunter asked, pulling away. Eda tried to draw a spell circle, but it disintegrated.

"That's a no. It'll take some time to get used to this." Eda said.

"I feel that I've been weakened as well." Lilith said.

"It's okay. I can teach you what I know, and what we don't know, we can learn together." Hunter said with a weak smile, handing Eda a light glyph. Eda activated it, and stared in wonder at the ball of light produced.

"Thanks, kid." Eda said, ruffling his hair, before pulling him into another hug. "I look forward to that."

+.*.+

Hunter sat down on his sleeping bag, Flapjack sleeping in his lap, as he stared unseeingly at an uninteresting corner - absentmindedly petting the red cardinal. The room was dark, only lit up by the moonlight from the window. That scene with the emperor kept replaying in his head, remembering how his words were so confusing.

There was a light knock on his door, snapping him out of his daze.

"Come in." He said quietly. The door slowly creaked open, Eda stepping inside.

"Hey." She said, closing the door and sitting down beside him. "You seemed a little shaky when I was flying us back to the Owl House. I could feel you vibrating on my back."

She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did something happen while I was being petrified?"

Hunter slowly nodded, oddly quiet. Eda pulled him into a little side hug. "Want to talk about it?"

Hunter sighed. "I... Emperor Belos almost killed me."

Eda's eyes widened, and she pulled Hunter a little closer.

When I get my hands on that slimy little tyrant... She thought.

"And... well, there were a lot of clues, but I guess I'm only really registering it now... Emperor Belos is my uncle." Hunter added.

Eda didn't think she could get even more shocked or angry at Belos, but here she was. She tried not to let her anger show, though, opting to try and comfort Hunter instead.

But... how does that make any sense? Hunter's a grimwalker - he was made, not born. He couldn't have any blood relatives... unless Belos is lying to him, and he was the one that created him with that set of ingredients. Eda thought. And then gave him that scar...

Eda hid her free hand behind her back and clenched it into a fist, so that she didn't burst out her rage and frighten Hunter.

"Well, don't worry. You're nothing like your uncle." Eda said with a smile. "You're a little nerd that loves to research and protect their loved ones. That doesn't sound like Belos at all."

Hunter gave a small smile. "Thanks, Eda."

"Don't mention it. Now, you should probably follow your palisman's example and head to bed. Today's been a long day." Eda said, getting up and heading towards the door.

"Night, Eda." Hunter said.

"Night, Hunter."