The Owl House: Tesoro

Chapter 14: Teen Titan, GO!

The days following the Bonesborough Brawl were frenetic in the Empress' palace. The Empress herself was still on vacation. About half of the Empress' Coven were sorting through the rubble of the Werehouse. The overwhelming damage that Luz and Amity did to the place made the task all the more grueling. Hettie Cutburn had to be taken to the Conformatorium, and she did not go peacefully. Acting Co-Empirex Whispers had their hands full overseeing damage control at the Covention Centre. Everyone else tried their best to avoid Kikimora, lest they invoke her fury. Sure she seemed calm and composed lately, but Titan only knows when that one inciting incident would take place.

The ones that usually had it easy in these kind of situations were the Coven Heads. They rarely had any responsibilities delegated to them and even then, they were mostly advisory roles. Unless they chose to get more closely involved in emergency procedures, they could just kick back in the palace. Nova Midnight, the head witch of the Beast Keeping Coven, had spent the night of the Brawl corralling the runaway slitherbeast that Viney let loose from the Covention Centre and returning it safely to The Knee. A tough job for even the most experienced of Beast Keepers, and she had no energy for helping with the Werehouse investigation afterwards. Head Witch Darlene Deamonne of the Abomination Coven simply didn't want to help.

Nova and Darlene were relaxing in the solar of the palace reserved for Coven Heads in the afternoon three days after the Brawl. Nova was napping on a large cushion in the corner of the room, while Darlene was in her recliner checking her messages on Penstagram with her scroll. Both were enjoying the relative silence after all the chaos when Head Witch Bo barged into the room. She looked quite the worse for wear, but such was to be expected, given her latest undertaking.

"So, Hettie finally calm down for you?" Darlene teased.

Bo sat down and rested her head on a nearby table. "Just when I thought I couldn't lose any more respect for her, she had to struggle during a routine physical exam. I swear, it was dealing with a hexing five-year-old!"

"Why do you even bother with her?" Darlene took a second to flame a Mighty Mittens fan on her Pensta page. "It's not like she'd do the same for you. She's a cold-blooded psycho."

"Yeah, but I'm not. And I won't betray my Hippocampus Oath for her of all people." 

"Huh." Darlene downvoted a post from Emric Entertainment regarding the upcoming premiere of the Amazing Human-Girl movie. "So, is it true what they're saying about Snapdragon?"

"Hmm? What exactly are "they" saying about Terra?"

"That she's about to finally kick the bucket?"

Bo pinched the bridge of her nose. "Her health is declining, yes. We have yet to determine a cause."

"Could it possibly be because she's, y'know, a million?"

"The problem lies beyond old age. Her bile levels have been so constantly low since last month, as if she had been overusing her magic. But those runestones around her cell are still working, so that can't be it. I hate not knowing how to treat this. A sickness I've never seen before is a sickness I need to understand."

"WHO IS IT?! WHO'S MESSING AROUND OUR SANCTUARY?!?"

Darlene and Bo almost jumped out of their skin when Nova bolted from her cushion, shouting at a person they couldn't see. The Beast Keeping Coven Head's sense of smell was second to none in the Boiling Isles. She caught the coven scout's scent before he could even enter the room.