In a secret room of the castle, Belos stood in front of the repaired door of the human realm, that he had managed to salvage and recover. He ordered an abomaton to turn on a switch and it did as it was told. Glowing green goo flowed down from the pipes of the machine and headed towards the door, powering it up. Belos took out a handmade key and stuck it into the keyhole.
It disintegrated almost immediately as soon as he turned it. Hidden in a corner, behind the emperor, Hunter quietly watched, curious about the portal. Lil rascal had managed to sneak into the room as well and landed on Hunter's shoulder and let out a small chirp.
"Shoo!" Hunter brushed his hand to get the cardinal to leave.
"Would you like to see how this works, Hunter?" Belos called out. Hunter gasped and went tense. He had heard him. The cardinal went ridged and turned to wood and Hunter quickly put the bid inside his cloak, hiding it. Hesitantly, Hunter stepped out approaching Belos.
"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos," He murmured.
"We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open," He told him.
"Is true that rain doesn't boil in the human realm?" Hunter asked. Belos turned to Hunter with a surprised look.
"It is. But, how did you know that?" He asked, smiling.
"I ran into the other human the other day. She told me," Hunter told him. He saw his uncle's smile immediately drop. Hunter immediately shifted his gaze away from Belo's cold and dark eyes as they stared intensely down at him. Hunter nearly jumped as he felt his uncle's fingers tuck under his chin, tilting his head up, making Hunter look at him.
"Hunter, I need you to promise me that you won't see that human girl again." Hunter's eyes widen a little as he stared up at Belos confused.
"What? Why?" he asked.
"She is a bad influence, especially since she's hanging around with the owl lady, learning about wild magic," His uncle told him. "She's dangerous, so promise me that you will stay from her."
"I-...I promise, Emperor Belos," Hunter said, his eyes dropping a little as he looked down.
"Don't make that face, you know how I feel about that, Hunter."
"I'm sorry, Uncle," Hunter replied.
"You know I've been there before, the human realm, did I ever tell you that?" Below asked, immediately changing the subject. Hunter looked back at him, and shook head. Belos had a soft smile on his face.
"The trees they're green, nights are quiet," He told Hunter. "I look forward to seeing it again." Then he turned Hunter as he walked down the stairs with him. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"
"The operation at the knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter questioned. Belos smiled.
"Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders, and you, well..." He wrapped his arm around Hunter, placing his hand on Hunter's shoulder as they continued walking down the stairs. "The Titan has BIG plans for you and it would be such a hassle to try and find an replacement." Hunter's eyes widened. He was going to be replaced? No! He worked so hard to get where he was! If he was replaced then what use would he be? He wouldn't be able to help his Uncle.
"So right now you can be useful by staying "safe" here in the castle," Belos told him as he led Hunter out.
"If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear that I can do better!" Hunter insisted.
"Good night, Hunter," Belos smiled, closing the door.
Hunter stood in front of the door for a minute, before making his decision. He was going to help his uncle, no matter what happens. He had to prove that he wasn't a failure...not again.
Hunter turned around and ran, heading straight to his room and dropped off Lil' rascal. The little bird made a confused chirp as it looked at Hunter.
"I'll be back," Hunter told the cardinal palisman. "Just STAY here and don't be seen. I have to do this on my own."
As he turned around to leave, Hunter heard the small red bird began chirping frantically before he saw Lil' rascal beginning to fly straight towards him. Quickly, Hunter shut the door, before Lil' rascal could get out. It nearly broke his heart hearing the frantic and coming from the small bird as it heard it pecking and clawing the door.
Hunter shook his head, making up his mind and quickly grabbed a coven's scouts uniform as a disguise. So no one would recognize him, since his own had been eaten and was getting the uniform and mask fixed and replaced. He put the scout's clothes and cloak on and left the castle, heading to the Knee.
Back at the owl, Amity was prepping and fortifying the security of the house. She walked past the window, seeing Hooty outside.
"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked.
"The perimeter is secure nothing's getting past me!" The owl beast told her as he broke the window, coming in.
"Good! Clean up that mess," Amity smiled.
"Ma'am!" Booty saluted. He sweeped the broken glass aside, using his neck. Amity walked into the living room to see Willow coming in and placed some groceries on the table.
"Willow have you gathered the supplies?" Amity asked.
"Yes! We're ready to attack this at all fronts!" Willow told her.
"Excellent!" Amity smiled. A small white car walked over to her. Amity bent down petting the cat. "Aw, Ghost, did you help, too? Who's a good palisman! Great, now all we is-"
"Rain? Beach wave?" Gus suggested as he and King walked up behind the two girls.
"Something called "Lo-fi beats to study and relax to." We've got it all!" King shouted.
"Eda was rummaging through her basement and gave us these soothing human noises!" Gus explain.
"That's, great," Amity replied. "Wait, Eda's still here? Eda you're supposed to be helping Hooty build up our defenses." Then she heard Eda scream.
Amity walked into a room to see, Eda screaming loudly at nothing, while Azara and John watched in amusement. "Whoo! Don't mind me, I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on demand. According to this human workout, you just got to scream a lot until you forced your inner beast out." Eda said.
"Eda, this is a cartoon," Azara told her. "Of course, it's not going to work."
"Gee, you just love to suck the fun out of everything, do ya kid?" Eda teased.
"This looks ancient," Amity replied picking up the tape.
"What? No! You're telling me-Thirty years old? I remember seeing this in theaters," Era frowned.
"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands!" Amity exclaimed.
"Chill bossy boots. Everything's fine," Era reassured her. Amity gestured Eda to follow her, along with Azara and John as she walked them to Luz's room, opening the door.
"Does THIS seem fine to you?!" Amity asked gesturing over to Luz.
"It's like I have snake for arms!" Luz exclaimed, as she wildly waved her arms in the air at nothing. Luz's hair was a mess and she was inside of a sleeping bag. Her nose was red and her eyes looked blood shot and tired. She was sick.
"Please, she just has the common mold," Eda explained. "it's harmless."
"But, she's a human," Amity said, worried. "We have no idea how this will affect her!"
"If I eat the portal key, would I return to the human realm?" Luz questioned. Azara's eyes widen.
"Luz, no!" she tried to stop her. Luckily, Amity made a small abomaton and it quickly took the key from Luz, walking away, and gave it to Amity.
"I am not giving this back until you are better, okay?" Amity told her. Luz whined and took out a small device that looked like a tomagachi and started to type something on it. Amity had one as well as it pinged. She looked at it seeing the strange emojis, not understanding them.
U R PRETTY...
"Uh, you got it!" Amity smiled and winked at Luz. Luz stared at her confused and disappointed as she closed the door.
"I got to admit, Amity, seeing you around more often is different, " Willow told her as Gus, King and her approached the them.
"I know but I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity," Amity told them. "And today I am going to show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend!"
"Feels like is it a few months ago you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," King pointed out.
"She did what now?" Azara asked, interested. Amity blushed and looked away.
"That was a few months ago," Gus added. Suddenly, everyone jumped as they heard Luz scream.
"AAH!" They quickly opened the door to see Luz frantically grabbing a pen and paper. "Luz!"
"Mouse! Uh, Philip's dairy entry!" Luz exclaimed, frantically. They saw the echo mouse projecting something on the wall, in black and white, like an movie from an old film reel. Azara a strange man dressed in weird clothes that looked like from the 16th century. His hair was tied up in a pony tail and had two long strands of hair hanging from his face.
"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms, Titan's blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's veins run through the land and many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of It's blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here, so that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake."
"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz shouted as she finished the drawing the location down and quickly got up, practically jumping out the door. Willow and Gus quickly caught her, dragging Luz back inside the room, putting her back into the sleeping bag.
"Luz, no! You are not well!" Willow told her.
"She is shockingly strong!" Gus added.
"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan blood," Eda told her. "if you just calm down."
"Yes! Perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive!" King cheered.
"You guys are the best!" Luz smiled. She handed Eda the paper, however it looked like it had some snot on it as well. Eda cringed in disgust and took it, holding the map in front of her, walking away.
"You might want to get that disinfected," Azara chuckled.
"I volunteer as well, as Luz's girlfriend, I must -" Amity immediately volunteered, following after Eda.
"I get, Boots. Just grab a coat," Eda told her.
"I'm coming too!" Azara replied.
"Well, if you're coming, you're going to have to wear boots. Where we are going is cold and I can't afford to have another sick kid on my hands," Era told her.
"Fine," Azara pouted but agreed.
"I'm coming as well!" John shouted. Azara frowned and shook her head.
"No, you're not. You're staying here," she told him. John whined.
"You're not the boss of me!" he complained. Azara smirked.
"Actually I am, since mom's not here," she reminded him. "Therefore, I am in charge of you." She approached him and bent down to his level. "And if YOU get into trouble, "I" get into trouble, and WE don't want that, do we now?" John pouted, crossing his arms, before sticking out his lips.
"Fine," he replied.
"I need you help look after Luz, okay?" Azara smiled. John nodded his head, understanding.
"Willow, Goops, watch after Luz," Eda told the two. "She thinks she has snakes for arms." Willow and Gus looked back at Luz who had her arms in the air before she noticed them and hissed.
High above, on a snowy mountain, Kikimora and the coven scouts were digging around outside in the ruins of an abandoned mine.
"Dig faster, scouts!" Kikimora ordered.
"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable, maybe we should slow down?" One of the scouts suggested.
"Not now, captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do! And I just know that brat golden guard will try to spoil it!" Kikimora said. "Hey Steve! Jump over that chasm before I throw you into it!"
"She's getting so paranoid," the captain shook her head.
Not too far off, from the scouts, Hunter was hiding behind a tree as he watched them. He leaned back against the tree and pulled back the hood his cloak, only to be startled as he saw the cardinal palisman right there next to him.
"Why do keep following me?!" Hunter hissed. "How did you even get out!?"
I'm.....h#r% to h#lp! Lil rascal chirped. Hunter frowned as he looked at the bird.
"I don't speak palisman," He replied then continued to explain his plan to the bird. Lil rascal was nodding his head the entire time, listening.
"Here's the plan, I slip in with this disguise, I find the Titan blood before Kiki, I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again!" Hunter smiled. It suddenly dropped as Hunter heard one of the abomatons fired in his direction. He and Lil rascal quickly ducked and took cover as the blast exploded the tree that they were hiding behind. Hunter gulped nervously and quietly crawled way before the scouts noticed him. That blast almost blew his head off!
"Ma'am, is everything alright?!" The captain asked. Kikimora's eyes narrowed with a dark glare.
"I just thought I heard an annoying voice!" She hissed.
"Uh, another way in! We'll find another way in!" Hunter stammered, nervously. He ran got up and ran away while Lil rascal rode on top of his head. Lil rascal 's eyes widened as it sensed something nearby and happily chirped.
Hunt*& Th%$ #ay!
Hunter stopped and saw the cardinal land on a branch in a tree and walked over. His eyes widen in surprise to see Eda, King and Amity, approaching.
"The owl lady and her dog and is that the youngest Blight?" He questioned to himself. Then his eyes noticed a familiar pair of green eyes as he saw Azara walking with them as well. Hunter's eyes widen and he had almost fallen off from the steep slope, slipping on a small patch of ice, as soon as he saw her. He nearly lost his breath and felt his cheeks burn as he felt strange feeling in his chest. Hunter's heart began to beat faster, watching Azara as she and the others got closer. Her again!?
"This place is crawling with tools! What gives?!" King asked.
"Titan blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too," Eda explained.
"Well, we can't afford to mess this up," Amity said. "Luz is counting on me! I mean, us!" She blushed.
"Well, as soon as we find this Titan's blood the sooner I can get out of these boots!" Azara complained. She was shaking her feet as she walked along side them. Eda and King laughed.
"She's like a small cat!" Eda chuckled. Azara frowned, as her cheeks turned red, embarrassed.
"I heard that!" she yelled out.
"Alright, new plan," Hunter smiled. "They can lead us to the Titan blood."
Lil rascal stared at Hunter for a minute before he lunged out and pulled on Hunter's strand of hair.
I'm doing Th&$ for you# #wn &ood!
"Hey! Hey! AH!" Hunter screamed and he lost his balance falling right in front of the group. He groaned as he sat up. That little sh-
"A coven scout!" Amity exclaimed. Hunter's eyes widen underneath the mask as he looked up at the group. Eda and Amity had their staffs ready and pointed at him.
"Uh, yes, I am but a humble scout and I surrender," Hunter surrendered holding his hands up. Azara's eyes widen, recognizing the voice.
"Heh, that was easy!" King smiled. Eda narrowed her eyes at the strange scout in front of them.
"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" She asked.
"Why does everyone say that?" Hunter replied, sadly. He quickly took off, running away, trying to escape.
"Don't let him get away!" Eda shouted. Amity made some abomaton goo fly out of her flask with a wave of her finger. It shot out, wrapping around Hunter, knocking him off of his feet, and he flipped over, falling down to the ground. His mask had fallen off, as well, revealing his face. The group walked up, looking down at him.
"This is none other than-"
"Hello, Hunter!" Azara smirked.
"Wait, you know him?!" Eda asked, confused.
"Yeah, he's the guy I've been telling you guys about." Azara told them.
"Well, did you know that he's Belos right hand man?" Eda frowned. "I thought I told you to stay away from them!"
Azara smiled sheepishly, shrugging her hands.
"The golden guard!" Amity gasped. "He is a lot scrawnier than I've imagined." King laughed.
Hunter growled and glared up at them.
"Did I do it? Did I go into harpy mood?" Eda asked, excitedly, busting through a wall of ice.
"No, you just screamed "Hoot!" and ran head first into a wall of ice," King told her as he walked into the mines from the hole Era had made, along with Amity, Hunter and Azara, "It was pretty funny actually."
"You can put down your staff, I won't run," Hunter said.
"Too bad, because I don't trust you," Amity answered, still pointing her staff at him.
"Huh? This stuff is old," Eda commented the old abandoned mining equipment that was left behind, lying about near them.
"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for titan blood-" Hunter tried to explain.
"They're not listening," Azara told him.
"Go on, fire it! Maybe the adrenaline will kick in and bam! Harpy Eda!" Eda insisted. King jumped on top of the mine drill, getting ready to activate it.
"Sounds perfectly safe!"
"Wait! Don't!-" Hunter tried to warn them. But, King had already activated the drill and it unleashed a blast of magic. It barely missed Eda and started to ricochet off the walls bouncing around wildly like a ping pong ball!
"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan any magic that you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter shouted.
"Oh, you must be fun at parties," Eda teased. She turned back to King. "Hey, King How about you use your new power to echo-locate the lake?"
"Okay!" He jumped off the drill running to the tunnel in front of them. King opened his mouth and let out a sonic blast. There was silence, then King turned around to them, shrugging his hands.
"Nothing," he replied.
"These two are definitely going to get us caught," Hunter frowned.
"Us?" There is no us! Now, keep walking," Amity said.
As they started to head deeper into the mines, walking further in, Azara stopped when she heard a voice whisper in her ear.
Azura...
Azara eyes widened and she wildly began looking around.
"Who said that?" She asked.
"Who said what?" Amity asked. The others stopped, as well seeing Azara looking around at nothing. They stared with confused looks on their faces.
"We didn't say anything, kid." Eda told her. She frowned seeing the uneasy look on Azara's face. "Is there something wrong?"
Azara shook her head. "It must have been my imagination. Let's just hurry."
"Oh hey, look! People died here." King added. Everyone gasped as they saw a couple of skeletons lying on the ground.
"Okay, this is getting too creepy. Let's just find that Titan blood and get out of here." Amity said.
"Maybe, it's the lost souls of the witches who died here in the mines?" Eda joked. "And now they're angry that their tomb is being disturbed!"
"Eda! You're not helping!" Azara shouted. "I know that I heard someone! They said Azura..."
"Azura? You mean, the the good witch Azura?" King asked and chuckled. "But, she is just some storybook fantasy. She's not real!"
"I know what I heard..." Azara replied.
"Maybe, you're crazy," Hunter sneered and commented. Azara frowned, looking at him.
"Alright, let's just keep going," Amity told them. "Hearing voices is never really a good sign. Let's just find that Titan's blood then get out."
"You know, Luz told me about her trip to Latissa, where she met someone very interesting," Eda explained as they walked further into the mines. "A beat-up blond with no magical powers. She called him and these are her words, "A bad but sad boy," She snorted as she finished and chuckled. Hunter cheeks and ears turned red, blushing, embarrassed.
"If I ever see that human again," He muttered.
"Hey, watch it!" Amity warned him as she narrow her eyes.
"At least I'm not delusional to think that I can turn into a harpy!" Hunter retorted. Eda turned around and hissed.
"Hey, come on, give it a rest, you two!" King said, although he looked amused at the fight between.
"Yeah, listen to your rat," Hunter replied.
"Whee!" King screeched angrily and jumped off of Eda, pulling on Hunter's hair.
Suddenly, Amity shushed them telling to be quiet. She motioned them to take cover and they did. Everyone saw Kikimora, along with two abomatons and two coven scouts had made their way into the mines, too.
"Why are we stopping?" Kikimora demanded. "Is it the golden guard?!"
"No, ma'am, this is a dangerous area," the captain told her. "We need to move carefully."
"Careful takes too long! My butt is on line!" Kikimora shouted. "And so help me Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off of the peak of the tallest knee with a smile!"
"She definitely has issues," Azara cringed.
"That poor girl is going through something," Eda commented.
"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake," Amity added and pointed ahead.
"We should create a distraction," Hunter replied.
"We should create a distraction!" Eda shouted. "You kids wait for my signal!" She and king jumped over the edge, getting into place to create a plan.
"Ha, that was easy! When they're caught, you two and I can take the Titan blood for ourselves," Hunter said as he leaned against an old mining machine.
"Stop talking like we're a team!" Amity shouted.
"Why not just quit the emperor's coven and come with us?" Azara asked. Hunter's and Amity's eyes widened in shock.
"Are you kidding me?" Amity asked in disbelief. Hunter chuckled and sneered.
"That's an attempting offer, but no thanks," he replied.
"Better than being miserable." Azara commented.
"I never said anything about being miserable," Hunter frowned, looking away from her.
"But you are, aren't you?" Azara asked. "Why can't you just admit that you need help?"
"I..Don't..Need..Help," Hunter replied, coldly, as he narrowed his eyes at Azara. She sighed.
"Everyone needs help every once in awhile," Azara told him. Amity stared at the two in silence with a disbelief look on her face.
"This is crazy," Amity said, shaking her head. "I am not working with the emperor's coven just because you two have a crush on each other."
"WE DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON EACH OTHER!" Hunter and Azara yelled at the same time. The two blinked and looked at each other.
"But we might as well work together," Hunter replied. "The owl lady and her pet have nothing at stake unlike us."
"You have no idea what you're talking-" Amity's tomagatchi bleeped in her coat pocket, interrupting her. "I was going to say, you have no-" It bleeped again. Hunter and Azara stared at her, blinking and raised their eyes staring into the witch's pocket. Amity huffed and turned around, her back facing them, and pulled out the device. Azara walked closer peeking over Amity's shoulder. She saw strange emojis on the screen but couldn't understand them. She was never really any good with that kind of stuff, it was from confusing.
"Oof, that doesn't look good," Hunter replied reading over Amity's shoulder. Amity jumped as she saw Hunter and and Azara behind her. She glared at Hunter.
"Stay back!" She demanded. He stepped away as she wanted. Amity frowned, wondering what he had meant. "But, what doesn't look good?"
"Seems clear to me, come back with results or else....you can figure out the rest," he told her.
"That doesn't sound right," Azara replied. "That doesn't sound like something Luz would do."
"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat." Amity agreed, shaking her head. "I'm an awesome girlfriend!"
"Has she told you that?" Hunter asked. "We have a lot in common, Blight. We both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you are special." he finished. Azara stared at him, silently.
Amity bit her lip and looked down, with an uncertain look on her face.
Suddenly, a blast of purple magic bounced near Kikimora and the scouts. The abomatons deployed a shield to protect them.
"Why didn't you wait for our signal?!" Eda called out as she and King, ran to catch up with Hunter, Amity and Azara, heading straight into the tunnel ahead of them to Eclipse Lake.
"We don't have time to play around! We are getting that titan blood!" Amity shouted.
As they ran, Amity's tomagachi had fallen out from her pocket and landed on the ground. Kikimora spotted it and picked it up, inspecting the device with a crazed look in her eyes.
AS the group walked down the tunnel, the cardinal palisman had been following them the entire time, unnoticed by them. Lil rascal landed on Hunter's shoulder and made a small chirp.
"Hey, find a different perch, bird," Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulder. Lil rascal flew off of him. At the end of the tunnel, everyone walked out to see some strange dried up crystallized dark blue liquid surrounding all over the room.
"Is this titan's blood?" Eda asked.
"But, Eclipse Lake is farther ahead," Amity said, confused, checking the map again.
"Who cares!? We did it!" King shouted. Eda and King began to approach it.
"STOP!" Hunter shouted. "That's fools blood. Don't touch it!"
"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself?" Eda smirked. "Pfft! Hard pass!" She slammed the end of her staff into the crystal. It cracked and suddenly the ground began to shake beneath them, before ripping open giving away under their feet. Eda and King fell into the huge chasm below.
"No!" Amity and Azara cried out. Amity was about to hop onto her staff to go after them but Hunter stopped her.
"Wait! Take me with you!" he shouted.
"Yoo hoo! Golden guard!" The three heard Kikimora call out, getting closer to them.
"Can you at least untie me so I can escape?!" Hunter insisted. "Please, I don't want to be replaced."
"Fine!" Amity groaned. She waved her finger and released the goo from Hunter, freeing him. Hunter stretched his arm as she glanced behind her, seeing the shadows getting closer. "So, where will you go now?"
"Now..." Hunter sweeped his leg and knocked Amity and Azara off of their feet, knocking to the ground. He ran and hopped into a mine cart and wheeled off. "I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone! BYEEEE!"
"That little-!" Azara growled as she got up.
"That jerk!" Amity shouted, angry as well. Just as the two were about to get up, a spear pointed at their faces. The two girls froze as they saw Kikimora and the coven scouts in front of them.
"Would you look at this, captain?" Kikimora said "We find our little fire starter." Then she noticed Azara, and glared at her. "YOU! You will pay for blinding me!"
"Well, you shouldn't have walked so blindly to my trap," Azara scoffed. "Some coven scout leader you are."
"Silence!" Kikimora shrieked angrily. The abomatons aimed their cannons at Azara, ready to fire. Azara's widened and she gulped. She stared at the end of the cannon, glaring up at Kikimora. "But, after a deal with another little pest. Then I'll deal with YOU!" The abomatons lowered their arms. Azara felt a sudden relief rush over her as they did.
"So, the golden guard is also looking for titan's blood and he took off to Eclipse Lake," Kikimora said. "I knew it! That little snake is always making me look bad. Well, now I can get my revenge!"
"Ma'am, what about the Titan blood?" The captain asked.
"Oh, yes, I'll get that too," Kikimora replied. "This is going to be a good day!"
"What should we do with these two?" The captain asked.
"Oh, I don't care," Kikimora replied. The two abomatons transformed into carts and she rode in one, as well as the other scouts as they went after Hunter. The captain aimed her spear at Amity and Azara.
"So, did you come with anyone else or...Ugh! This is boring!" she picked up Amity and tossed her into the cavern.
"Amity!" Azara cried out. She felt the captain push her as well as she kicked Azara into the hole. Amity and Azara screamed as they fell down into the dark depths. Suddenly, several hands grabbed the two girls, catching them. Eda and King pulled them up as they hang on tightly onto Owlbert. Amity quickly grabbed onto the tomagachi, catching it, just before it fell as well.
"Guys, you're okay!" Amity said in relief.
"Just barely," Era told her. "Owlbert's knocked out so we can't fly."
"I'm just like throwing it out there, but, this would be a great time to bring out harpy Eda!" King said.
"I don't know how! I tried yelling at it, scaring it-" Everyone gasped as they saw Owlbert was starting to crack.
"Did you ever think about talking to it?" King asked.
"Ha! I-I guess I didn't, but it's a wild animal," Eda said unsure.
"You thought I was a wild animal, once," King commented.
"Okay, I'll try. Just give me a second," Eda agreed. "What?! You want to make a deal? I-I don't know if I can." Owl was beginning to crack more as a large crack appeared on it's head. "Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just change NOW!" Her eyes turned black and golden irises appeared.
"Haha! Yes!" Eda cheered as she flew out of the pit in her Harpy form, carrying Amity, King, and Azara.
"What did you promise to do?" Azara asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," Eda told her.
"I can't wait to see a real life mine cart chase!" King exclaimed, excitedly.
As they reached the end of the mine tunnel, everyone had saw that Kikimora and the other scouts had gone off the rails and crashed.
"Ooh..." Everyone cringed.
"I guess mine cart chases are a lot more dangerous than videogames make them seem." King commented.
"There it is!" Amity pointed out.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed Eda as she was caught by an abomaton. The captain of the coven scouts got up.
"I don't know who you freaks are, but that blood belongs to Kikimora!" she yelled. The abomaton slammed Eda to the ground with the others.
"Get to the lake!" Eda shouted, telling them to go on. "I'll take care of-" The abomaton pulled Eda away from them and slammed her into the wall.
"Eda!" King cried out in worry. Azara grabbed him and ran after Amity. The captain of the scouts threw a spear at them but Eda caught it and snapped it with her hand, breaking it in half. She turned to the captain and smirked.
"Alright owl beast, let's see what we can do!" Eda flew up high into the air and began spinning around as she corkscrew straight towards the captain.
Azara caught up to Amity and looked ahead to see a large crater of what appeared to be a pool in front of her. However, it was dried up and there was no Titan's blood. The trees that surround the pit were dried up as well as roots extended all over the area. She froze as she saw Hunter, desperately digging in the dirt.
"Don't worry, I won't pick a fight," He told them. "There's no titan blood."
"Then why are you digging?" Amity asked. Azara eyes widened as she saw Hunter turned around. His eyes looked a little off and a little crazed. Great, she was dealing with a crazy person. This guy was literally digging his own grave.
"It's simple really. Belos needs Titan's blood, to make a new portal key. Can't get to the human realm without it," Hunter explained.
"There's blood in the key?" Amity questioned. Azara's eyes widened in surprise. This trip had been for nothing! The key had Titan's blood all along...and it was the one thing that Emperor Belos needed. It can't fall into his hands!
She frowned, staring at Hunter, concerned.
"Since, I failed my last mission, I thought "Hey! A chance to make up for it!" But, I can't go back empty handed!" Hunter let out a hysterical laugh. "Not again. Long story short, this is my grave! Do you want me to make you one, too?"
"This is really bumming me out," King replied.
"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use and if you don't-Pfft! Bye-bye! Your friend gets it!" Hunter said.
"What's he talking about?" King asked confused.
"Luz has been sending me these strange human codes. I don't understand all of them, but this one seems pretty clear," Amity explained and showed King the emojis. "Come back with results or we're done." King frowned until he saw something strange about the emoji's. He turned the device sideways and the emojis appeared to spell out words. Amity's eyes widened surprise.
"U ARE RAD," She read. "FOOLS BLOOD BAD. U OKAY. COME HOME."
Amity laughed and smiled overjoyed and happy. "Of course! This is Luz we're talking about!"
Suddenly, the three heard frantic chirping and turned their heads back to see Lil rascal trying to pull Hunter out of the hole that he had dug. He swatted the bird away from him.
"Hey, go find a better witch to be with!" He groaned, falling back into the dirt face first and shoveled some more on top of his head.
"We need to help him," Azara told King and Amity. King frowned.
"I don't think that he's your type," he replied. Azara blushed a little.
"I don't care, we still got to try and help him," she insisted. "You told me how your parents treated you. You and him have the same experiences, maybe you can get through to him." Amity nodded, understanding. She knew how he felt. This was a chance to help him. Amity and Azara walked over as they approached Hunter. Amity bent down to Hunter and Lil Rascal landed on her shoulder.
"You know, you were right. We do have a lot in common. I grew up thinking that everything was an opportunity to justify existing. But, there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just got to let yourself meet them." Amity smiled and held her hand out to him.
Hunter opened his eyes and looked up at her then turned his attention towards Azara. He saw that her eyes were pleading at him to take it.
"We want to help you Hunter," she told him softly. "Come with us."
Hunter's felt his chest began to grow warm as he heart began to beat faster at the sound of her voice. It relax him, made him feel safe. Just as Hunter was about to get up, something shined in Hunter's eyes. He gasped a little and his eyes widen as he slowly got up.
"What are you?" Amity questioned before glancing down to where Hunter was looking at. The key!
Hunter lunged at her, and Amity quickly rolled out of the way. He quickly turned back towards her, with a desperate look in his eyes.
"Oh, come on!" Amity complained. "Being nice usually works for Luz!"
"Hunter, please don't do this!" Azara cried out. But, Hunter ignored her and ran towards Amity. King quickly jumped in front of her.
"Weh!" King shouted unleashing a sonic wave.
Hunter's eyes widened as it came closer. Lil rascal quickly jumped in front of him, reflecting the blast. Hunter grabbed the staff but Amity shot out some abomination too at him, wrapping around Hunter's body. Hunter struggled to get it off when suddenly he teleported out of the binding then started to teleport uncontrollably a little unleashing a yellow burst of energy.
"The staffs are weird," Hunter frowned looking at the staff. Hunter teleported again as Amity shot an abomination goo at him again to catch him. Now high in the air, Hunter aimed the staff down at them and unleashed several burst of yellow magic, and it began to bounce wildly all over the room. Azara quickly made a ice pillar as she made a spell circle with her finger just before a ball of magic hit her.
Hunter teleported next to Amity and she tried to block his attacks as he teleported wildly around her, trying to break through her shield. As he stopped in front of her, King tried to jump at him and knocked Hunter to the ground. Amity created a giant bubble with the goo encasing Hunter inside of it. She quickly got on her staff and grabbed King, heading towards Azara.
"We are leaving!" she shouted, getting ready to grab her. Azara shook her head.
"Not without Hunter!" she shouted.
"We HAVE to go! NOW!" Amity urged her, grabbing her hand. "Forget him!"
"No!" Azara argued, pulling back. "I won't turn my back on people who need my help!" Amity's eyes widened in shock.
Suddenly, the abomination cage exploded and a giant hand made out of earth smacked right into Amity, knocking her off of her staff.
"Amity!" Azara cried out trying to reach her but Hunter sent another ball of magic at her, stopping Azara in her tracks. King had managed to land safely but his horns were embedded deep in some tree's roots. Amity used her goo to make a slide and slide down to the ground landing on her feet. Then Hunter quickly appeared beside her. Amity's eyes widened.
"You really want to help then gimme that key!" Hunter shouted. He used the staff to rip the necklace off of Amity's neck and Amity quickly caught it before he could get it. She quickly made a sharp weapon and aimed it directly under Hunter's neck as he pinned her hand with his staff, glaring up at him. Hunter panted completely tired and exhausted and sweat dropping from his face.
"Listen your strong and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape. But here's the thing: we know where to find you and your human." Amity gasped. "So just, hand over the key."
"Fine," Amity said. "Just stay away from Luz." She let go of the key and Hunter took it from her.
"I appreciate it," He told her. "I, uh, mean that, too." Just before he was about to take off with Lil rascal, Azara stopped him. She stepped in front of Amity, clasping her hands together.
"Hunter, wait. Just think for a a minute," She tried to reason with him. "You don't want to do this. You know that this is not right. I know that your not happy there. You know that your not happy there. So, come with us..."
Hunter turned and stared at her for a minute, silently.
"Can you really turn your back on your own family?" Hunter asked. Azara's eyes widened. Hunter took off flying away with Lil rascal.
"Hunter! Stop!" She cried out. But, he was already gone.
"HaHa! Yes! I heard fighting!" Eda smiled as she flew in. "I'm ready to go! Where's the nerd?" She stopped when she saw everyone.
"Weeh!" King whined as he tried to pull his horns out from the tree root that he was still stuck upside down on. Amity looked like she had made the worst decision in her life. Azara was still standing where she was, frozen. Tears were slowly beginning to fall from her eyes as they run down her cheeks.
"Oh, dang it." Eda sighed.
Back at the owl house, in Luz's room, Luz gasped and suddenly shot up with a surprised look on her face. "Huh?! I feel great!" Luz exclaimed before she realized that she had mushrooms growing on her head. "I wonder if this is permanent?"
"I got to find everyone!" She yelled. She quickly got up, the mushrooms fell off from her head as she did, and she quickly ran into the hall. Luz bumped into Willow who was carrying to bowl of soup, knocking it out of her hands, along with Gus. Hooty caught it with his head. "Have the others returned?"
"Ow, ow ,ow! Just get an elixir!" Luz gasped as she heard Eda shout and ran into the living room . She saw King and Azara trying to pull on her wing go get her inside, but she was stuck at the door. "I got into harpy mode and now I can't get out."
"She also ate like nine voles on the way home?" King added.
"Hey, I had to keep up my end of the bargain," Eda said.
"Amity!" Luz ran over to her, knocking her down, and hugged her tightly. She smiled. "I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"
"Me, too!" Amity smiled back.
"No king hug? What is this?!" King complained. "You are a swindler and a thief!"
"Come here, buddy!" Luz rushed towards him and swooped King up in her arms hugging him.
"I regret this!" King shouted. Eda leaned in closer to Amity.
"You want to break the news or should I?" she asked.
"News?" Amity asked, confused.
"The empty lake, the golden guard, losing the portal key?" Eda told her. "Today was an disaster."
"Actually, we might be okay." Amity said, as she showed Eda the Titan's blood that was stained on her glove.
"How did you get the Titan's blood?" Azara asked, surprised.
"I broke the key." Amity told her.
Nighttime was beginning to fall, and stars were shining in the sky. Hunter stared at the key in his hand as he held it in front of him. He had an unsure and confused look on his face. He felt terrible and guilty about taking the key. Then Lil rascal landed on his hand and happily chirped at him.
"Oh, hey. You stuck with me the whole time, huh, bird?" Hunter asked. Lil rascal made another happy chirp.
Orion.
Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. He had understood what Lil rascal had said! He can understand him!
"I think I understood that!" He smiled. "Is that your name? Can you say it again?"
My name is Orion, Hunter.
"Weird." Hunter chuckled. He thought it was a funny name to name a bird after a star constellation. But, it did seem to suit him. Hunter's life had been brighter since the little bird came into his life, even leading him to Azara. Hunter's eyes widen as her name came into his mind.
It didn't matter. She must hate him now. He quickly shook it off and looked back at Lil rascal.
"Can you say other things?"
Hunter continued on ahead, heading to the castle, as Lil rascal continued to chirp talking to him.