Capítulo 21: An angry old woman.
POV Third person, Healing Coven…
"WHAT!" A woman wearing a veil-like covering over the top part of her face with horn-like hair sticking up looked toward a woman kneeling on the floor. "As I started before, your Phoenix tear was destroyed, I apologize for my incompetence healing coven head." a familiar feminine voice said as the newly identified Healing Coven head stood up from her chair and walked toward the familiar-sounding woman who upon closer inspection was Lilith.
"Why didn't you capture the scoundrel who did this!" She yelled out angrily as Lilith shrunk back, ashamed of her mistake. "I'm sorry but the intruder was faster than I thought and due to that lack of judgment I lost them," Lilith said as she thought back on how Chris ran away faster than she expected, and when she tried to fly after him, he disappeared around a corner.
'Still, what was with that guard that was out of uniform?' she thought before focusing back on the Head of the Healing Coven.
"-ture them!" Lilith heard before raising her head not fully hearing what she said. "I'm sorry but is it possible for you to repeat that?" Lilith asked as the Healing Coven Head looked at her angrily. "Are you deaf? I said to gather up a squad of Coven guards and capture the culprit!" the Healing Coven Head repeated as she slammed her hand on the desk causing a slight crack to form in the wood. "Y-yes Healing Coven Head!" Lilith said before standing up from her kneeling position and backing out of the room.
POV Change Chris, Owl House…
"uuuggghhh…" I groaned out as I rolled over onto my other side blinking a bit to clear my vision. "Huh?" I said as I sat up and looked around. "oh right, Phoenix tear and all that." I said as I laid back down and closed my eyes for a second… before opening them again. "Wait, *sigh*" I facepalmed as I realized what I just did. "Did I really do that?" I said in disbelief as I thought back to how I broke a valuable artifact and ran.
"I guess would be proud!" I said sarcastically as I pinched my nose in annoyance. 'God dammit, how do I keep screwing things up!' I mentally scream at myself as I could only blame myself for that. 'Ok well maybe the shattering thing can be partially blamed on Aunt Lilith but it was mostly my fault.' I thought as I stood up from my bed and walked toward the door. "Isn't the door smaller than usual?" I questioned as I remembered what form I was in when I passed out.
"Oh right still in my Titan form," I said as I leaned down and opened the door to my room. "Man, this is more inconvenient than I thought," I said as I headed toward the bathroom. "Hm, now where's my toothbrush… huh?" I said as I looked at myself in the mirror. "Cubone? Wait did my form change again!?" I yelled out in surprise as I looked at my new appearance which looked sort of like King minus the purple eyes and short height. "Ugh, why is there so much hair on my body!" I said looking down at the fur covering my body.
"Ngh, whatever I'll just turn ba-" I said before turning around to see King in the doorway. "Dada?" I heard him say as I froze in place. "What? No, I'm not your dad." I said breaking out of my shock. "So you're not my Dada?" King said seemingly calm. "Yep, I'm not your dad," I answered before noticing tears welling up in his eyes making me feel a pang of guilt.
"Uuuhhh…" 'Think Chris, think what to say… got it!' "I'm not your dad because I'm your big brother!" I said over-exaggeratedly shaking my hands to try to cheer King up. "*sniff*, you are?" King asked as he wiped the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "Yes, I am!" I said kneeling down to be closer to King's height. "Yes, I am the Duke of Demons!" I said as I clenched my raised fist. "Ow ow, sharp nails," I said before looking back down at King. "Duke?" King tilted his head curiously.
"Yeah, uh they're the brothers of kings?" I explained while looking down at him. "Brother?" King looked with stars in his eyes. "Yep, brother," I said as King jumped toward me. "Brother!" He said as I caught him while smiling awkwardly as I mentally let out a sigh of relief. 'Disaster averted, thank god.' I mentally wiped the sweat off my forehead. "Uh, so King do you think you could let me go so I can do my thing in the bathroom?" I asked as King nodded and loosened his grip before I lowered him onto the ground.
"Um, can I ask one thing?" King looked up at me with a nervous expression. "Yeah?" I said as I saw him twiddle his claws a bit. "Since I'm a king and a King's brother is called a Duke, can I call you Duke?" King asked as I thought about it for a second before looking back at King. "Uh sure just as a nickname though," I said as King nodded excitedly before running out of the bathroom. "Okay, Duke!" I watched as he ran down the hall and tripped but quickly got up and ran down the stairs.
"Well, that was something," I said as I returned to the bathroom and did my business. "Now should I stay like this or…?" 'Of course, you should!' I heard from inside my mind causing me to jump. "F-what!?" I looked around a bit before realizing who it was. "Oh, it's just you Grim," I said calming down as I leaned back on the wall. "Uh, so what's with the visit?" I ask curiously as he scoffs. 'It's obviously because of the training you said you would start this Summer!' Grim said to me mentally feeling annoyed as he appeared around the size I remembered him as before fighting Eda.
"I won't be here for long so you need to learn how to use as many of the powers bestowed on you." He said as I shrugged. "Isn't it like a titan, with glyphs to manifest spells, the scream, and shapeshifting, also what's with my form, didn't you say it would mature with time, and what about that magic drain thing, why don't I feel as tired?" I asked as he shook his head.
"No, it isn't just that, you have more abilities you do not know of, how do you think I snuck up on you when we fought and grew so large, as for your other questions, it's not exactly matured, it just evolved quicker thanks to those flames, though don't expect to use runes like you did against that monster woman," Grim explained as I looked at him both annoyed and curious.
"Hey, don't call Eda a monster!" I snapped at him before realizing what he said. "Wait, does that mean I can use that growing power to become even larger like some kind of Titan I guess?" I said as Grim looked at me as annoyed as I was before giving me what looked to be an eye roll.
"No you are already using it, you've been using it since you gained my powers," he explained as I realized why it still felt draining being in this form. "Wait, so how do I undo it?" I asked looking at Grim. "Try to imagine your body shrinking and you should be able to go back to normal size," Grim said as I followed his instructions and with a bit of difficulty I felt myself compress before opening my eyes to see I now stood at the same height I'm usually at… 4'9.
"Huh nice, this feels pretty good," I said before turning back to Grim. "Why didn't you tell me before?" I questioned as he turned his head away. "You didn't ask." He said as I felt a bit annoyed. "Well then, how about the other abilities?" I asked as Grim looked back at me. "Well I'm not sure how to say this but… you aren't ready for them." Grim said making me feel even more annoyed.
"But I thought you were going to teach me how to use my abilities?" I ask as he smugly grins. "Yes, but for now you will be doing some training for your next ability," Grim stated as I nodded still feeling annoyed. 'Why won't he just tell me what it is now?' I thought as I focused on Grim. "This is the three stages of the training, first I will track you without any mental connection and you will try your best to lose me, the second part will be you trying to approach me without alerting me, and third you will try to strike me without me noticing… though for now, you'll be focusing on stage 1 though I doubt you'll be able to pass this quickly due to your… complete lack of stealth." He said irritating me more.
'Not stealthy? I'll show you who's not stealthy and I'll easily hit you without you noticing!' I said as I tried to slap his back only to touch air as he appeared on the other side of the bathroom. "Nice try but you aren't even close, the first thing you should know is how to suppress your emotions otherwise even the most normal people will quickly sense you," Grim said as I growled in frustration.
"Fine but we'll do this after I have breakfast," I state as I turn back into my witchling form. "Of course, it is quite hard to do anything when starving-" I heard him say before he seemed to stop in place. 'Damn it, I'm fading faster than I thought.' Grim thought as he saw another bit of his body fade. "Hello, Grim you ok?" I questioned as I saw him snap back to reality. "Hm, yes… now I shall start the training later tonight… be prepared," Grim said before re-entering my body as I walk downstairs to the kitchen
"Hey Raine, what's for breakfast?" I ask as he turns back to me with a smile.
"Oh good morning Az, sorry I couldn't see you yesterday, I was stuck at the Bard Coven looking over some documents and we're having bakon and scrambled griffin eggs," Raine said as I yawned. "No it's fine and that sounds pretty good… what's with Mom-I mean Eda," I said as I turned to look at Eda who seemed to be in a daze as she held her cup of Apple blood. "Oh don't mind her she just hasn't woken up yet," Raine explained as I nodded in response.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, I remember when we first came here she was like this too," I said remembering how mornings usually went when I lived here before I noticed King tugging on Raine's apron. "Hm?" Raine looked down to see King looking up at him. "Where's Duke?" King asked with a curious look. "Who is that?" Raine questioned looking confused.
"You know Duke, he's super tall and looks like me!" King energetically explained as I saw Raine looking at him confused. "Wait do you mean…" Raine turned toward me with a suspicious look, I could only stand there as still as the table Eda rested her head on. "I saw Duke upstairs!" King explained further as I felt Raine's stare intensify. "Hey, Raine can I talk to you for a second?" I asked as I walked up and grabbed his arm before pulling him off to the living room. "So you probably already realized who he was talking about?" I said as Raine nodded.
"You are the only one in this house with the ability to shapeshift, so what happened?" Raine asked with a curious look. "Well, you know how my shape-shifting works right?" He nodded as I continued. "Well something happened yesterday and one of my forms changed," I explained describing how I slept in my titan form (though I didn't call it that) and how when I woke up and went to the restroom it was different than before. "So that's how that happened." I finished explaining leaving out what I did at Belos' castle.
'I'd rather not have to tell them, "Oh hey, I accidentally committed a crime yesterday because I didn't listen to Lilith!", yeah that would be pretty bad.' I thought as I imagined their reactions to that. "And you're sure there wasn't anything weird that happened to you yesterday?" Raine asked as I kept a straight face. "Yep, pretty sure," I said as Raine looked at me thoughtfully. "Maybe it's puberty?" Raine thought out loud as he looked down at me. "Tell me are you going through any weird changes like growing hair on other parts of your body or changes in your voice?" Raine said as he looked closely at me.
"Besides that change, I told you about? No, and puberty doesn't happen for 7-year-old kids-" "Almost 8!" Raine interrupted with a smile. "I remember when we celebrated your birthday last year, wasn't that fun?" Raine asked as I nodded awkwardly. 'Yeah I remember, you almost invited the whole school to my birthday!' I exasperatedly thought before smelling something burning.
"Oh, that reminds me! We'll be hiring babysitters for you and King." Raine said as I looked at him surprised. "What, why!?" I ask feeling slightly annoyed. "Because Eda and I are going out to enjoy ourselves, so behave," Raine said calmly as I heard someone yelling something from the kitchen but I ignored it.
"Why can't I just babysit King? I'm more than qualified!" I said before Raine gave me a knowing look. "F-fine, but if I prove to be responsible enough then can I be the one to babysit next time?" I ask as Raine seemed to mull over it and nodded. "Ok then but if you don't I will-" Raine stopped in the middle of his sentence as a burning smell invaded the room. "Oh no, the bakon!" Raine yelled as he ran to the kitchen in a panic.
"Wait, Raine what were you going to say!" I yelled before I felt a tap on my leg. "Huh?" I looked down to see King staring up at me. "Az, do you know where Duke is?" King asked curiosity in his eyes. "Uh, probably getting ready to…" I looked toward the door. "Play outside, yeah play outside and explore your vast kingdom!" I said as King looked more excited as he started hopping up and down in excitement. "I'm going to show him my favorite throne!" I watch as King runs toward the door only to stop and look at me.
"Servant, your king commands you to open the door for him!" King said in an oddly hilarious voice as I held back a laugh. "O-ok your Royal m-majesty," I said as I opened the door and bowed still trying to hold back a laugh. "…pfff, hahaha!" I held my stomach as I thought how adorably arrogant he sounded when he asked me to open the door. "Sh-should I leave him out there, hmmm, well I mean he has Hottie right? King should be fine." I said before turning to the kitchen doorway where I saw Raine shaking his head at me in what I could only assume is disappointment.
"I wasn't going to actually leave him out there, I was joking," I said nervously as I remembered that I had to be on my best behavior today or else I wouldn't be trusted enough to babysit King by myself. "Ok well, I'm going to watch King, see you later Raine, see you, Eda!" I said getting a wave and smile from Raine and a groan from Eda as I changed my form with my form growing taller before walking out the door.
"Hey King, um I heard you wanted to show me around?" I said looking down at King in my Titan form as he rapidly nodded. "Yeah, Duke!" He said with a smile as I picked him up and put him on my shoulder. "Yes, this is travel for a King!" King said as he raised his arms in excitement. "Now onwards into my kingdom!" King said pointing over to the forest. "Ok, your majesty," I said before I started walking off with him into there.
POV Change third person, Hettie, Healing Coven head's office…
"Graaah, that idiot couldn't catch a single intruder, how is she the candidate for the position of leader of the Emperor's Coven?" Hettie said as she slammed her fist on her desk just as strongly as before. *knock* *knock* *creak* "who is it now?" Hettie grumbled as she thought about who it could be. 'Wait, ugh didn't I promise to make time to have lunch with Terra today?' she remembered as she started talking.
"Terra, I know I promised to have lunch with you today but something came up, so we'll need to reschedule this for another time," Hettie said in a tired yet annoyed voice. "Oh, it's no problem since I didn't come for lunch." As soon as Hettie heard 'Terra' she turned around immediately to see a man in a pure white hooded cloak with golden outlines that was obscuring his face. "Who are you and how did get past security?" Hettie said in a deadly serious tone as a scowl covered the visible parts of her face.
"Whoa, I'm not here to cause trouble!" the man said raising his hands into the air. "Then how did you get here? The guards from the Emperor's Coven wouldn't let you through nor would the security measures I set." Hettie said as her body tensed in preparation for something. "Let's just say I have my ways as overused as that sounds." the hooded man said light-heartedly which only served to make Hettie angrier. "Is breaking in here a joke to you?" She said as her teeth clenched.
"What? No no, I may not sound like it but I'm taking this quite seriously." He said shaking his head under his hood. "Then what's your goal here?" Hettie snarled as he reached inside his cloak causing Hettie to react as she summoned her staff and cast a spell before a green glow enveloped him. "Huh? What's this?" he said as his body froze up. "A healing spell," Hettie stated with a now calm arrogant tone. "You did this with a healing spell? Ooh wow… oh yes I was trying to give you this paper." He said in a nervous voice that Hettie couldn't determine to be genuine or not before he seemed to make an effort to move as a piece of paper dropped to the floor.
"See, I didn't mean any harm, I just wanted to give you this?" The hooded man said before Hettie looked at him suspiciously as she went to pick the paper up and down. "Hm, Roderia is it?" Hettie said scanning over the paper that seemed to contain some information and a marked map. "Yes, nice to meet you Healing Coven Head." the now-named Roderia said with a semi-formal voice. "Now that introductions are over I'll dive straight in, I have a proposition for you, that relates to that little… intruder who broke your precious artifact," Roderia said as Hettie frowned.
"How do you know about that?" She said calmly as she circled him. "I'll reveal what you want to know later but for now please listen to my proposition." He asked as Hettie debated whether it would be beneficial for her. 'Would this fool's plan hold any merit? Perhaps but he is an unknown so for now…' "As… 'interesting' as that sounds, I think I'll rely on something I can control." Hettie said as she stopped in front of him. "So for now, I think it's best if you were detained," Hettie said as she walked toward him.
"*sigh*, well that's unfortunate, if you change your mind come find me at the spot marked on that map." He said with mock(fake) disappointment annoying Hettie. "And how do you plan to get out of that paralysis I placed?" Hettie scoffed as she reached for him only to see him suddenly jump back toward the door. "What, how?!" Hettie yelled out in surprise. "That's a secret, now I must be going, I wish you luck with your revenge." Roderia bowed before closing the door as Hettie looked on in anger knowing it wasn't wise to give chase to a person who seemed to be immune to her specialized spells. "Damn it!" She screamed as she once again beat on her poor desk.
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